


Dia de Reyes Au

by Hellas_himself



Series: The Elriel Holiday Au [1]
Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Elriel, F/M, Holidays, reyes au, three kings day au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 22:19:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21806770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hellas_himself/pseuds/Hellas_himself
Summary: After the death of his father, Azriel is forced to go back to the one place he swore he’d never return to. But he finds himself quite literally face to face with his past, one that he had not let himself think of since he’d left.
Relationships: Elain Archeron/Azriel, Feyre Archeron/Rhysand, Lucien Vanserra & Vassa, Nesta Archeron/Cassian
Series: The Elriel Holiday Au [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1571347
Comments: 8
Kudos: 10





	1. Welcome To Illyria

**Author's Note:**

> This was a fic I wrote last holiday season. I fell in love with Elriel and this was where I added my culture to it and why my modern AUs do so as well. I'll be copying my notes and translations from the tumblr posts here so it all makes sense lol

The bus driver wasted no time in closing the door behind me as soon as my boots hit the ground. I sighed, adjusting my backpack and walked away from the paved road towards the muddy path head. Of course, I had been the only one to get off at this stop. Who would willingly come here? ‘Welcome to Illyria’, the sign read and I scoffed. But I supposed that this would be the most welcome I’d ever be here now that my father was dead. 

The dirt road gave way to pavement and I was surprised enough that I stopped and stared at the town I’d left so long ago. The shops were the same, yes, but renovated. New faces. _Smiling_ faces. How anyone had ever loved living here, or even visiting- always amazed me. But I realized where I was standing and though her father was gone, I was sure Emerie was running the store now. No one knew I was here and I wanted to keep it that way.

My father’s house was at least half an hour walk away from the town, but that was alright. The day was sunny despite the cold. Despite the fact that I was going back to the one place I swore I never would. But the _hijo’e puta_ had one trick up his sleeve, even after his death. At least his lawyer respected her word and when I arrived, we were the only ones there. Cordial. To the point- I was handed a folder containing my mother’s legal documents like her birth certificate and passport. The papers to a deposit box at the bank across town that she had left to me- something I had not known about. Then, the lawyer handed me a wooden box, small enough to fit in my backpack but no key to open it. “It was left for you,” the lawyer said to me, “Legally.” I had to smirk at that. I almost wished I had been there to see my _madrasta’s_ face when she learned my father had held on to my mother’s things. That he had managed to keep her from getting rid of it was a thought I was not ready to consider.

The bank was literally across town. By the time I made it back, I decided I had enough time to get something to eat and take a breath before walking the rest of the way. Illyria still had no buses, and I doubted Uber was even a thing here. It didn’t take me long to choose where to go, the diner was still up and running. I had to smile at the sight of it, that had been one place I’d enjoyed going to everyday after school with my friends. With my mother. Nuala and Cerridwen’s parents had owned it… But I knew they’d passed. I doubted the twins had remained here.

I didn’t recognize anyone inside, but it was quiet. Ridiculously clean. There was music playing softly and it smelled like heaven in there. I found a booth at the very back, setting my bag on the floor and pushing it against the wall. The owner must be new, I decided. The menu was almost all in French and to my surprise, Spanish.

“What can I start you off with?” a familiar voice said and I looked up, staring into familiar brown eyes. My heart did leaps in my chest.

“Elain?”

“Az?”

I set the menu down. “What are you doing here?”

She blushed. “I own the place.”

“Really?”

She nodded. “You still drink black coffee?”

I nodded and before I could utter another word, she walked away. I wasn’t sure what to make of this. I hadn’t seen Elain since my mother’s funeral. But she had been engaged then and everyone had gone their separate ways. When I left town… I left everyone behind, too.

Elain returned with a tray of food, setting it down in front of me. There was the black coffee, a bowl of _farina_ with generous amounts of cinnamon and a side dish of eggs, bacon and toast. A glass of orange juice, too.

“Two sugars, right?”

“Yeah.”

She smiled, sitting down across from me.

“It’s quiet today… The weather keeps tourists away.”

“Tourists?” Anything to distract myself from the fact that she remembered what I liked to eat for breakfast and the fact that the farina tasted just like my mother used to make it.

“Well, once everyone discovered that the great Feyre Archeron lived here once, people come to visit. Mostly artists looking for whatever might have given Feyre her talent,” she said with a giggle. She still only had the one dimple when she smiled. “With the renovations, we attract all sorts of people, especially from the city. Bored rich people like to come play house at the rentals, like they can’t wipe their asses with money.”

I snorted which only made her smile.

“So, how did the old bastard trick you into coming back?”

“He had my mother’s things,” I said, taking a drink of coffee. Elain thrummed her fingers against the table. No ring, save for the gold one on her right middle finger with the blue stone. That was her birthday present when she turned fifteen. I’d worked extra hours at the shop and sold a gold chain my adoptive parents gave me one Christmas to afford it. Elain must have saw where my gaze had fallen because she brought her hands under the table.

“He left. I stayed.”

“Ah.”

“He was an asshole.”

“I agree.”

She giggled.

“How long are you here for?”

“Just the end of the day. I have to go to the bank before the last bus comes for the day.”

She looked disappointed but put on a smile.

“You can use my car. Wouldn’t want you getting stuck here.”

I wasn’t sure why that made me feel so guilty but Elain shoved her hand into her pocket and set keys on the table. The keychain was a squishy cinnamon roll. “I have to get back to work. It’s the only car back there… Usually. It’s blue.”

“Elain-”

“Finish eating and don’t you dare insult me by paying.”

I sighed, watching her get to her feet just as the door opened and a family of six walked in.

The first thing that bothered me about Elain’s blue Oldsmobile was that it was not locked. The second, was that there was no radio, the cables stuck out as if it had been stolen- which for Illyria, wouldn’t surprise me. The third was that there was no heat, which was nothing to me, but the thought of Elain driving this thing in the cold bothered me.

Her car got me to the bank at least. I didn’t have to wait long, the lawyer had called them and they’d been expecting me. My mother’s deposit box held two envelopes. One contained cash and the other, an old iron key, nothing more. I set those in my bag and got back in Elain’s car. It was starting to snow, but I had time to go back to the diner and walk to the bus stop if I wanted to.

Until Elain’s car shut down.

*

“Oh my god,” Elain shouted as I walked into the diner and rushed around the counter. “What happened?”

I probably looked like a wet dog but I was too cold to care about that.

“Your car shut down by the grocery store.”

“Shit,” she said.

“When was the last time you put gas in your car?” The fuel gauge wasn’t even working.

She blushed. “Well… I don’t really use it. I live here.”

“Here?”

“Come on. Cassian leaves some clothes here when he stays.”

“Cas stays _here_.” Why did that bother me so much?

“Sometimes. Rhys does, too, but Cas prefers my sofa to the bed and breakfast.”

She led me to the back of the diner and unlocked a door. Up the stairs we went and there, she unlocked another door. “It’s not much, but it’s home,” she said. Her parents had been wealthy, I remembered. They had never taken too kindly to her being friends with Cas and I, even if Rhysand’s parents had taken us in. Elain had grown up in a mansion, a mansion I’d never been allowed to go inside.

“When Cas told me the diner was going to be demolished, I bought it. But it was with my money,” she said proudly. “I refused any help from my parents… Especially after all they did to Feyre.”

“Honestly,” I said looking around the studio apartment. “This is you.”

That made her laugh. To the right was a beaten up sofa, a little table where the tv sat. A small dining table, big enough for four, took up the middle of the room where the kitchen was. And to the left, her bed was in the corner covered in a mountain of pillows and a teddy bear I remembered from high school. She had a dresser and nothing more.

“That door over there is where the washer and dryer is,” she said pointing towards the right. “The bathroom is over there. Cas has some clothes in the bottom drawer of my dresser. Just toss your clothes on the chair by the bed. I’ll wash them while you shower.”

“Left or right?” I asked.

“Hot is to the right, don’t ask me why. Oh, you can use my shampoo. I know you won’t use it all in one go like Cassian. There are clean wash clothes in one of the cubbies… Anyway, go shower before you get sick.”

Her bathroom sink was leaking, the shower head needed changing and the water drained too slow. After I got dressed, I walked out to find that Elain had gone back to work. I could hear the washer going. I don’t know what I was doing, but I started walking around her apartment, mentally cursing Cassian and Rhys. Her dining table was uneven on one leg. Two of the chairs were broken and held together by faith- as my mother would say. The kitchen sink didn’t even work and the light bulb in the ceiling fan was going to go out soon. I tried to charge my phone but I couldn’t find a single working outlet without disconnecting her tv, which I didn’t want to do. After I set the clothes to dry, I checked the cabinets, the windows. Some needed oil. Her locks needed replacing.

The door opened as I was looking in the rather empty fridge and I found Elain walking in with Lucien Vanserra, of all people. He smirked when he saw me, and I felt an undeserved jealousy at how close he stood beside her. Lucien had always had a thing for Elain, which I couldn’t blame him for.

“Az, Lucien went and got the car.”

“It was nothing,” he said with a shrug. “But Vassa is waiting for me downstairs.”

“Thanks,” she said, looking at him sheepishly.

“Anything for you, Elain.” He kissed her forehead then looked at me. “Az.”

“Vanserra.”

He nodded and left with a smirk. Elain let out a long sigh.

“I didn’t want to call him but… Lucien owns almost everything in town. He really didn’t have to drive it over here himself but Vassa was craving apple pie so I had Nuala send them home with two.”

“Nuala?”

“Oh, yeah. She’s in the kitchen. We work together.”

“That’s… I’m glad you’re not alone.”

Her cheeks turned pink. “I have to finish up downstairs, but once you’re ready to go, I’ll drive you. If you need to charge your phone, there’s an outlet by my bed.”

I nodded, not wanting to admit that I’d spent all this time looking for a working outlet. She smiled and walked out, leaving me alone to wait.

*

The drive to the bus stop was quiet, Elain humming to herself and cursing whenever she hit a bump in the road. She had handed me a bagged lunch which I put in my backpack at her insistence. She insisted on waiting with me for the bus, too.

“It was really nice seeing you,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry about the car.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“All the same.”

“It was nice seeing you, too.”

The bus came in to view and we both rose to our feet. Once, she would have hugged me so tight I’d break a rib. But I wasn’t sure I was allowed that anymore, if I even deserved it.

“Don’t be such a stranger, Az.”

“I’ll try.”

She put her hands in her pockets, reminding me of Rhys.

“Let me know when you get home?”

“Yeah, sure.”

The bus stopped in front of us.

“Bye, Az.”

“Bye, El.”

Fighting the urge to hug her goodbye, I got on the bus. I found an empty sit and sat down. When the bus drove away, I looked back. Elain was still standing there. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m a sucker for Hallmark and that “small town girl goes back home and falls in love with boy from said town” trope is my jam but I switched it. Being Puerto Rican, Christmas ends in the middle of January so I wanted to toss that in, too. My family is from a town called Fajardo in Puerto Rico, I lived in the mountains (just like our favorite bat boys).
> 
> hijo’e puta is the “improper” way to pronounce son of a bitch back home lol native speakers take out some of the letters sometimes. in this case, the ‘d’ in de which means of. 
> 
> Madrastra means step mother. 
> 
> Farina is cream of wheat? Idk. But it’s my favorite thing ever for breakfast. My grandma makes it with hella sugar and cinnamon. They make it every morning with coffee on the side and basically it’s sometimes the “first” breakfast. (at least in my family)


	2. Azrielito's Favorites

As I set my bag on the counter in my kitchen, I called Rhys on speaker.

“How did it go?” he asked by way of greeting.

“Not too bad.”

“Are you feeling alright?”

“Yeah… I’m okay.”

“You sure you want to come back tomorrow?”

I sighed, looking at my kitchen sink. My perfectly working kitchen sink.

“Would you mind me working from home? At least until the holidays are over?”

“Going to celebrate Christmas? Mom is going to flip when she hears this.”

“No, asshole. Don’t you dare get her hopes up. But I’ll see her on New Year’s.”

Rhys sighed. “At least.”

“How’s Feyre?”

“She almost killed me this morning. I ate the last slice of pizza last night and she woke up looking for it.”

I chuckled. “Is there a sty in your eye?”

“Absolutely not! I ordered her two pies and I stood home today to make up for it.”

“Have you guys told mom yet?”

“Saving it for Christmas.”

“You’ll record it for me, right?”

Silence. I heard him tapping his fingers against something. Probably his desk. I had always spent Noche Buena with my mother and Christmas morning, I’d go back home to Rhysand’s parents. Once she died… I couldn’t handle it, so I stopped celebrating altogether. I knew our mother didn’t deserve it- but it hurt too much.

“Yeah, Az, I’ll record it. We’ll see you New Year’s, then?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, I gotta go. No one told me morning sickness actually happens any time of day.”

I winced. “Take care of her, Rhys.”

“Love you, Az.”

“Love you, too.”

I set my phone on the counter and walked to the door that led me to the garage. I grabbed my tool box and set it in the trunk of my SUV beside the tool box specifically for my car parked beside the truck. I put my backpack in the back seat and after texting Elain, I went into the closet for my overnight bag.

*

Illyria was eerily quiet in the morning. My mother had always loved the watch the sunrise, even in this stupid cold weather. I parked the SUV beside Elain’s car and grabbed my tool box and my laptop case. She was taking an order when I walked in and she almost dropped her notepad. Trying not to smile, I walked to the back, taking the same booth I had sat in just the day before. I set the laptop case and tool box on the floor, pushing them against the wall.

“What are you doing here?” Elain asked, whispering rather loudly.

“Ordering breakfast.”

“Don’t be an ass.”

“I’m on vacation for the holidays, El.”

She stepped back, her eyes widened slightly.

“Your usual then?”

“Surprise me.”

That made her smile enough to show off that dimple in her cheek.

“Okay. I just finished the _Mallorca_. I’ll come back with some coffee, too.”

I waited till she disappeared behind the counter to get my laptop going. I answered emails while I waited. Feyre had sent an ultrasound picture and I felt a lump in my throat. ‘I miss you, _pendejo_’ was the subject line. That made me chuckle, at least. Feyre had learned every curse and insult in Spanish within weeks of dating Rhys.

Then there was the confirmation emails of everything I’d ordered last night. So far, everything looked to be in order. Once I saw Elain walking towards me, I closed out of the email, leaving my work screen up.

“Here you go.”

“Thank you, El,” I said as Elain set the mug down. The _Mallorca_ looked… exactly how my mother made it. 

“I thought you were on vacation?”

“Rhys and Cassian would lose their heads if they weren’t attached to their necks. Someone has to make sure things are running smoothly.”

Elain rolled her eyes.

“Well… It’ll get busy soon. I’ll leave the door unlocked so you can go upstairs and work there.”

“Thank you.”

She smiled and walked off. I had to force myself to look at the screen, not the notepad in her back pocket.

Of course, I didn’t work upstairs. At least not for Rhys. I started working on her bathroom sink. I unclogged the tub and put in a new shower head. I put a book under the one bad table leg in the meantime. I’d leave the chairs for last. I didn’t want anyone to hear me using a hammer. Her kitchen sink was a nightmare, but the parts would come in tomorrow. I couldn’t do much about her outlets, not without shutting the power off so I’d wait for the diner to close. I didn’t want to risk shutting the whole building down.

I was putting in a lightbulb in the kitchen when Elain walked in. I almost fell off the chair.

“What are you doing?”

“What my brothers failed to do.”

“I didn’t ask you to.”

“You didn’t have to.”

She made an aggravated sound and when I stepped down, she had her hands on her hips. I knew that face; defiant, proud.

“I can take care of that myself.”

“Yeah? When?”

“Hey, I don’t get free time to do things,” she said and I felt terrible then. “Besides, no one knows.”

“Cassian spends the night here.”

“Yes, to work. He eats downstairs.”

“Look… I get wanting to do things on your own… But I want to help. If you’re not gonna let me pay for my food, _dejame hacer esto_.”

She glared at me but then she sighed, her shoulders sagging.

“That’s not fair,” she said with a smile. “You know how much I love it when you do that.”

“I was counting on it.”

She laughed. “Just don’t tell my sisters, okay?”

“No one even knows I’m here.”

“And no more Spanish, you’re not sweet talking yourself out of anything else.”

“Is your car still unlocked?”

She groaned and walked out, making me laugh.

It was almost sundown when I finished with her car. It still needed a lot more work, but I had to wait. When I walked back in to the diner, she was wiping down the tables.

“Where’s Nuala?”

“I let her go home early. Dinner time during the holidays isn’t really busy. It’s usually breakfast and lunch that has me ready to throw in the towel.”

She laughed but it didn’t convince me.

“Do you take days off?”

“Not really… Christmas day and New Year’s yes. But that’s about it.”

“Want some help?” I asked. She smiled, wiping her brow with the back of her hand.

“Honestly, I would love it if you helped.”

I put up chairs while she swept up the floor, Elain smiling whenever she caught me looking at her. That’s how it always had been with her, but only her-

I washed and dried the dishes while she mopped, smiling as I heard her sing along to the music still playing. When we finished, she shut the music off and shut the lights off, leading me upstairs.

“Remember that one time Feyre and I went to Mor’s just so Feyre could stay the weekend with Rhys?”

“Yes,” I said with a chuckle.

“I snuck upstairs to where you were sleeping with Cas and we stood up all night talking.”

“Or that time Amren threw that house party,” I said and she laughed as she stopped at her door.

“We snuck off to get away.”

“With a bottle of whiskey.”

She giggled as she unlocked it.

“So… where are you staying while you’re here?” she asked, kicking off her shoes once we were inside.

“I hadn’t gotten that far,” I said, feeling my face get warm as I locked the door.

“You can stay here.”

“Are you sure?”

She yawned, walking towards the bathroom.

“Yeah. It’s fine.”

“Thanks, El.”

She nodded and closed the door behind her. I heard the sound of clothes being shrugged off and when she turned the water on, she screamed. I wasn’t sure what she said, but I knew that she was happy about the new shower head.

Elain wore fuzzy pink pajama pants and a white tank and grey cardigan when she walked out of the bathroom. She cursed the wood floor until she found her bunny rabbit slippers.

“What do you want for dinner?” she asked as she checked her phone.

“I’m not all that hungry… You did kind of give me three different plates to try for lunch.”

“Are you sure you liked them?”

She came to sit beside me on the sofa.

“If it wouldn’t make me sick, I’d have eaten all three and asked for more.”

“You’re silly,” she said, playfully pushing me as she turned the tv on.

“What made you want to buy the diner?” I asked, relaxing a bit in my seat.

She shrugged. “I’m good at it.”

“Good at owning a diner?”

“Yes. Out of the three of us, I’m the only one who can cook. You used to copy off my math homework so I mean… that has to say something.”

“I did no such thing.”

“Please. You passed algebra because of me.”

I laughed, feeling my heart beat a little faster by the way she looked at me.

“Alright… You win.”

She sighed, bringing her knees up to her chest. Her toe nails were painted glittery pink.

“It was one of the few places that had any good memories to it,” she said softly. She was blushing. “I didn’t want to lose that.”

I couldn’t look away from her. Her blush only deepened.

“So, do you mind sleeping with music?” she asked, changing the subject. “I can’t sleep if it’s too quiet.”

“I don’t mind,” I replied, waking up from my daze.

“You sure you’re not hungry?”

“I’m fine, El… I promise.”

“Hey Az?”

“Hm?”

Elain opened her mouth to speak but then just shrugged.

“Thanks… for the shower. And the sink. I’m sure I’ll find other things to thank you for, knowing you.”

“It’s really nothing.”

*

“What the hell are you doing?”

I looked out the window to find Elain staring at me.

“Your new radio came in.”

“What? Az- What the hell?”

“Your heat and AC works now. Fuel gauge is in working order.”

“How?”

“I went to the shop and grabbed what I needed because the parts weren’t getting here fast enough due to bad weather. But the radio got here this morning.”

“You had it delivered.”

“It’s amazing what expedited shipping does.”

I stepped out of her car and locked it. She made a face which made me laugh.

“What?”

“You smell like car.”

“Damn, I wonder why.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Go shower. I made something special for lunch.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Don’t.”

She still smiled when she walked away.

Showered and dressed in warmer clothes, I went down to sit at the counter where Elain set a plate of _pastelillos_ and other _frituras_ my mother used to make.

“You made this?”

“Yes. I remembered how much you liked them on Fridays after school.”

It took me a moment but… “I had practice, right?”

“Like most days. But Friday was also your mom’s day off. She made them every week without fail. Except that one time you had a stomach virus and-”

“Yep,” I said quickly, not wanting her to retell the details of that weekend. “I remember now.”

She laughed. “Do you want a _malta_? I’ve got some in the fridge and some in the pantry.”

“Cold would be great, El.”

With a smile, Elain disappeared into the kitchen. When she came back, she used the end of her shirt to twist the cap open. She shook her hand after.

“Hey, so, I have to go food shopping after work. Do you want to come with?”

“Sure,” I said as best I could with a mouth full of food.

“How is it?”

I smirked, taking a sip of my drink.

“If I didn’t know your parents were snotty rich white people, I’d think you were as _jibara_ as I am.”

She laughed. “Your mom showed me how.”

“When?”

Elain looked away, her cheeks turning pink.

“When you moved away.”

“Oh.”

“It was fun. I almost burned the kitchen once.”

“You went to my father’s house?”

She shook her head. “Your mom would come over to my place or we’d meet here.”

“I didn’t know that.”

I felt horrible.

“Yes, well, Azriel,” she said, now looking at me with a sly grin. “You’re not the only one who keeps things to himself.”

“I do not.”

She smirked.

“I’ve seen you maybe a handful of times since you moved away and then… Well, you fell off the face of the earth. If it hadn’t been because Feyre posted that picture of you and Cassian passed out on her sofa last summer, I would’ve thought you completely lost.”

“She did _what_?”

Elain cackled.

“Enjoy your lunch Mister-I-Don’t-Use-Social-Media.”

Feyre sent me the picture after I texted her about it. When I asked if she’d done this before, I told her not to answer when I saw how long it was taking her to respond.

*

Elain bought so much food it took me two trips to carry it all up to the apartment while she put it away.

“Plan on feeding an army of Illyrian assholes?” I asked when I locked the door; now with a chain, a dead bolt and the lock on the door itself.

“No, stupid. _Noche Buena_. Christmas morning breakfast. And don’t forget New Year’s and _Dia de Reyes_.” Her Spanish was… perfect.

“You celebrate _Reyes_?”

Still. She still celebrated it even after I left. I’d told her about it and for a few years, Elain would leave a shoe box full of random little gifts at my house. That wasn’t how it worked, but it was probably the sweetest thing to look forward to every January.

“Well… I spend it alone so I’ll get Nuala something. Or Lucien and Vassa. But they usually go visit his family. And with her pregnant, Helion is coming here. To town. Not here, as in my apartment.”

“Where am I putting this?” I asked, holding the enormous pig shoulder in its bag.

“Put it in the fridge for now. I have to season it. Which reminds me,” she said as she got up from where she’d been sitting on the floor putting the bags of rice and flour in the bottom cabinet. “I have to make _sofrito_ tonight. Want to help?”

“Of course.”

“Good. You’re the only person who can tell me if I’m making it right.”

Sure enough, Elain handed me a little notebook and it felt like I’d been hit in the gut. Every recipe, every little note, even grocery lists- all in my mother’s hand writing. There were some high lighted and in bold letters listed as ‘AZRIELITO’S FAVORITES’.

“I’m sorry,” Elain whispered, gently prying the book from my hands. When she held my hands in hers, I realized there were tears in my eyes. “I wasn’t thinking.”

“It’s okay. Just caught me off guard.”

“Still.”

Elain was the only person beside my mother who could touch the scars on my hands and not leave me feeling sick. I didn’t recoil. Rhys made sure my job involved as little human interaction as possible… I could shake hands. I’d gotten into fist fights more than I’d ever want Elain to know. But the way Elain brushed her thumbs over my skin, the way she looked at me- no one else did this. I trusted no one else.

“You can keep it,” she whispered. “I know them all by heart.”

“No, that’s yours. I have what she wanted me to keep.”

“What did she leave you?”

I shrugged. “I never looked.”

Elain sighed, kissing both of my hands. I wanted the earth to swallow me whole. I’d walked away from her and here she was… as if I’d never left.

“Come on. We’ll finish faster if we work together.”

I wasn’t thinking when I pulled her in my arms, but Elain sighed with _relief_. She wrapped her arms around me and it dawned on me that I hadn’t been this close to anyone in ages.

*

“Want to go see the lights tomorrow night?” she asked as she put the last of the _sofrito_ in the freezer.

“They still do that?”

“Yes. And I need to get a tree.”

“A tree?”

“My old one broke and I haven’t had time to get one. Emerie said she has a few still. I think if we leave right after I close the diner, I can get one.”

“And if you can’t?”

“You’re good with an ax, right?”

“You have to be in my line of work.”

Elain gaped at me which only made me laugh.

“You’re horrible!”

“I’ll remember that when you have no tree.”

She scowled.

“I’ll just take one from Lucien’s house. They have like three living rooms. They can live without one tree for a few days.”

I stopped laughing.

“What?”

“I’ll cut every tree from here to Velaris before I see you bringing anything from Vanserra’s house.”

“Try to stop me.”

“I’ll go to Emerie’s first thing in the morning. I’ll even put the lights out front.”

Elain grinned. “Good. I really liked the red and gold ornaments.”

“Anything else?”

“Nope.” Elain walked off, and I knew that I’d walked right into that one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. We (Puerto Ricans) add ‘lito’ or ‘lita’ among others, as endearment. For example, Angel? They now are Angelito so in this case, Azriel is “little Azriel” which is something his mother would have called him.  
Mallorca is a sweet bread we eat at breakfast or whenever tbh its yummy af  
Pendejo is like… asshole? and in this instance, its all in affection lol  
Dejame hacer esto means “let me do this” everything sounds better in Spanish imo  
To my fellow Hispanic/latinos- do not come for me lol THEY ARE PASTELLILOS IN THIS HOUSE. its like an empanada but smaller. sometimes filled with cheese, or meat, or even guava! they’re divine. Frituras are fried foods. It can mean just one kind or a platter of a bunch of them.  
Malta is a malt beverage that has SOME alcohol in it but not here in the states as far as I know. we drink it all day, at any meal. to my uterus owning friends, a warm malta can sometimes help with period cramps. no joke.  
Jibara/o is what me and my family are called because we’re from the mountains. basically anyone in rural Puerto rico is considered a jibaro.  
Sofrito is a bunch of herbs and veggies blended up and used as a base in almost all our dishes.


	3. Remembering Things

Taking a deep breath, I let it out and walked into Emerie’s store. I didn’t see her at the counter so I went after a cart and started grabbing decorations. My phone buzzed multiple times in my pocket and I stopped walking to see who was texting me so much. It was Elain… and her list of “required” decorations. I chuckled, sending her an eye roll and middle finger emoji before grabbing what I’d missed from her list. Emerie was by the trees, rather, their boxes. There were only three left. 

“I heard you were back, I didn’t believe it,” she said as she pulled a box off the low shelf. “This one’s for Elain. I’ve been keeping people from buying it.”

“I’m not back,” I said, picking the box up with ease and setting it in the cart. “Just on vacation.”

“Of course,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Shout for me whenever you’re done.”

I walked away, leaving Emerie with a shit eating grin on her face.

I grabbed poinsettias, a glittery golden star, more Christmas lights than Elain needed but I figured it was better to have more than need to come back here. Especially with Emerie grinning the whole time she scanned everything.

“Elain has a tab,” she said. “I can add this to it.”

I pulled my card out of my wallet. “Pay it all.”

“What do you mean?”

“Her tab. And all of this.”

“She’s going to be pissed.”

I shrugged. “She’ll get over it.”

“Between you and me,” Emerie said as she swiped the card. “I’m glad you’re not giving in to that ‘I can do it myself’ nonsense she’s been going on about since Grayson left. She _can_ do it by herself, don’t get me wrong. But she shouldn’t. Besides Cassian and Lucien, Nuala- Elain doesn’t have anyone out here.”

Emerie handed me the card back. The receipt started printing out and I pulled out a few bills and handed it to her. “Think of it as a Christmas present.”

“Az… really-”

“Please. Do whatever you want with it. But accept it, please.”

She relented with a sigh. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“Want me to help you bring that to your car?”

“I got it.”

“Merry Christmas, Azriel.”

“Merry Christmas, Em.”

*

I finished putting the lights outside the diner when Elain finished work. She was beaming when we went inside to work on the tree. Noche Buena was a day away, but I wasn’t dreading it. Not with Elain singing along to aguilnaldos better than I ever could. The tree was a nightmare to put together but once it was up, I plugged it in to the extension cord we’d plugged into the outlet where the washer was. Elain was laughing the whole time. She couldn’t reach the top of the tree even with the chair so I lifted her up, hands on her waist. She yelped, kicking me in the stomach and I pretended to drop her.

“I hate you,” she said with a laugh and I held her up higher. She put the star on and I gently set her on her feet.

“You’re welcome,” I replied and she hit my arm.

“Come on, we should get ready for the lights.”

“You mean, you should get ready for the lights. I’m good.”

“Yeah, yeah. Go see what they’re showing on Hallmark. I’m going to take a shower.”

“Whatever you say, boss.”

“Stop that,” she said with a laugh.

I got comfortable on the sofa, putting the tv on but keeping the volume low. Cassian had just landed and was on his way to mom’s house. Feyre and Rhys had gotten there this morning. I replied to their texts and remembered to message Mor and Amren and was surprised at how fast both responded. Mor sent me pictures of her at the beach and Amren sent a picture of the sunrise. Varian had taken her to Dawn for Christmas, because why not? It felt… nice to hear from them, even with the guilt I felt at how much I’d distanced myself from everyone.

“Hey, Az?”

I looked up, locking my phone and putting it in my pocket.

“Hm?”

Her hair was in two dutch braids and she was only wearing a towel… and her bunny slippers.

“Emerie said I didn’t owe her anything. But that can’t be right.”

She was holding her phone in her hand.

“Well, I took care of it.”

“Jesus Christ, Az.”

“What? I was already buying the tree, what harm would it be to take care of the rest? It wasn’t a big deal.”

“It’s a big deal to me!”

“Why?” I found myself leaning forward and Elain only stood straighter, a scowl on her face. “I grew up without money, El. With nothing. By the time I got adopted, I was used to having nothing, you know that. And I can afford to throw my money away on my friends, on the people I care about.”

She reminded me of Nesta for a moment and it dawned on me why Cassian had always had a thing for the eldest Archeron sister. I wished I could take that thought back but damn if Elain didn’t look hot. I felt like an idiot teenager all over again. 

“Just tell me before you do something like that. God, Azriel, I have to keep my books in order.”

She turned on her heel and left me sitting there while she rummaged through her dresser and stormed back into the bathroom.

*

We walked around town in silence, looking at one another every now and then. She’d put on a hat with a pom pom on top and with her coat and scarf, she looked like a marshmallow. A very pink marshmallow.

“What?” she snapped. Her nose was pink, too.

“Are you still mad at me?”

“No.”

“You haven’t said anything to me since before we left.”

“You haven’t said sorry.”

“But I’m not sorry… Well, for upsetting you, yes. I am sorry for upsetting you.”

She sighed. “Come on. I want hot chocolate.”

We bought hot chocolate outside of the only café in town and walked towards the houses and all their lights and ridiculous yard decorations. Elain perked up when one house was playing A Christmas Carol with a projector onto their garage door. She was practically skipping and tugging on my arm to follow her to house after house until we made it to the side of town she grew up on.

“Lucien is home,” she mused, but kept on walking.

“You don’t want to say hi?”

“No.” She was trying not to laugh.

“What?”

She held out her phone to me. She had taken a picture of his yard and wrote ‘Your decorating skills are weak for a rich prick.’ I laughed, handing her the phone back.

“Run!” she shouted and I looked at the front door and saw someone going to open it. I followed after her until we were in front of her parents’ house. It was completely dark save for a light upstairs.

“I haven’t seen them since… Well, they weren’t too happy about Grayson leaving. Even if they think I left him.”

I shook my head and threw an arm around her shoulder.

“It’s their loss.”

She shrugged. We kept on walking this way until we cut through the trees. I used to walk her home from school through here, and even in the dark, I knew my way around. She broke her arm once climbing a tree here. Feyre and Rhys- I shuddered at the thought. They’d almost ruined it for us. Cassian and I cut class and came here to smoke until Elain asked me to stop. But not before she tried it a few times.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked quietly.

“Just… remembering things.”

“Remember that time we came here to hang out and we found my sister and-”

“God, don’t remind me.”

She laughed.

“I miss that… Well, you. Us. Not Feyre and Rhys half naked on the grass.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, I miss that, too.”

“So why did you stay away?”

“I…” I didn’t really have an answer.

“I know you went through a lot, Az. And I know your mom was the only thing that kept you here, but… Your mom wasn’t the only person who cared about you.”

“I know that.”

“Grayson was so jealous of you and didn’t believe me that you never answered my texts. That you stopped answering the phone. I didn’t even know where you lived.”

“Elain…”

“Just forget it.”

She shrugged my arm off and walked away, leaving me to follow after her. She didn’t talk to me, even when we ate dinner. She changed into pajamas and shut the lights off before climbing into bed. It was quiet, too quiet for me to sleep. Especially knowing that she was upset and that it was my fault.

“Elain,” I said, afraid to speak too loudly. “Talk to me, please?”

“What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know. Anything. Everything.”

I heard her sniffle.

“You broke my heart, Az. Is that what you want to hear? Do you know how stupid I felt for ever thinking that you’d stay with me? At first I figured you were just wanting to know what it was like to live on your own, just like Feyre did after what Tamlin and my parents put her through. But Feyre didn’t just shut me out.”

“I didn’t mean to.”

“But you did. You did and I settled for Grayson because I figured somehow, he’d help me forget you. But he didn’t. I was just in love with one more person who didn’t love me back.”

“What?” I sat up, looking over to where she was.

“I said-”

“I’ve always loved you Elain. But I wasn’t good for you. Not then. And I was too ashamed of myself to tell anyone where I was, what I was doing. Which is stupid now, but I didn’t know any better then.”

“Where were you?”

“After the first tour overseas, I was living by myself in some shit hole apartment in Velaris while I spent practically every day at therapy. No one knew, only Rhys and Cassian. And when I came to see my mother… I just couldn’t handle being here. It was too much.

“And yes, I should have answered. I should have never let you think I didn’t care about you but I was a mess. You didn’t deserve that.”

I could tell she had sat up. I heard her let out a shaken breath. I heard the floor boards when she got out of bed and watched her walk me until she was right in front of me.

“Do you mean it, that you love me?” she whispered.

“With all my heart.”

Elain leaned forward, wrapping her arms around my neck. When I brought my arms around her, she kissed the top of my head. I could hear her heart racing.

“Elain, I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.”

“Shh… It’s okay.”

“It’s not,” I said and my voice was broken. I was crying. “I’m so sorry.”

“You’re here now… That’s what matters.”

She was crying too, I heard it in her voice.

“How can I fix this?”

“There’s nothing to fix, Azriel… I never stopped hoping you’d come back. And I never stopped loving you, and I never will.”

I pulled back enough to look at her and found her smiling. I don’t think she’d ever looked as beautiful as she did right then, even in those ridiculous pink pajamas and tears in her eyes. And I said as much, which made her laugh.

“You’re silly,” she said.

“Yeah,” I said with a laugh. “I guess I am.”

Elain put her hands on my face and leaned forward, brushing her lips against mine. “Stay with me,” she whispered and kissed me again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aguinaldos are basically our folk music? It’s a gift to whoever we sing them to. My uncle actually showed up at my abuela’s playing guitar and singing. It was amazing.  Here are a few so you can get an idea of what they sound like.


	4. Noche Buena

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I regret it took almost a whole year for me to find a name for Rhysand's parents (thanks to my cassian/Feyre fic) but yeah. Let us imagine they're still Vinny and Adela lol
> 
> Ps: Noche Buena means goodnight which is Christmas Eve for us.

I woke up because I heard pots crash on the floor. I sat up, finding Elain trying and failing at pushing the pots back into the cabinet. She had Christmas music going and at least three candles lit that smelled like cinnamon.

And she was wearing my shirt. 

“Good morning,” I said, my voice raspy. I had the good sense to pull the blanket over me. She turned and looked at me, a smile on her face. 

“Good morning.” She blushed.

“You’re not working today?”

“The church is doing their annual Christmas thing today so they’ll be down there. I usually help but I’m pretty tired.”

I smirked, which only made her blush deepen. She waved me off.

“Go wash up. I’m making breakfast.”

“You sure you don’t need me to teach those pots a lesson?”

She laughed, pushing against the cabinet doors. “No. I got this.”

“Don’t start without me,” I said and got out of bed, taking the blanket with me. I laughed when I heard her whistle as I walked to the bathroom.

Of course she was already mixing pancake batter when I walked out. She made a pouty face as I went to stand behind her. I put my hands on her waist and she leaned back against me.

“I think I like you better with no clothes on,” she said. I laughed.

“That can be arranged.”

“Hm… Tempting, but I’m hungry. And I have a lot of baking to do today.”

“Baking?”

“I bake cookies for everyone.”

“Define everyone.”

“Everyone downstairs goes home with cookies tonight.”

“You do this every year?”

“Yeah. It’s not like I do anything else on Christmas,” she said and then let out a sigh. “I’m usually alone this time of year. I tend to over do it so I don’t notice it too much.”

I pressed a kiss to her shoulder.

“I know the feeling.”

“Go see what’s on Hallmark. Then you can set the table.”

“Yes, ser.”

“Stop that.”

She elbowed me and I walked away laughing.

We had breakfast on the sofa, Elain shoving her feet under my legs instead of using the blanket I’d brought over because she was cold. The movie was cheesy but she was smiling and I thought I caught her crying at one point. But I didn’t say anything about it. I was just grateful to be there with her.

“What exactly do you do on Christmas?” she asked, setting her plate on the floor and sitting back, hands on her belly.

“Nothing.”

“New Year’s?”

“I visit my parents.”

“And Three Kings’ Day?”

“I work.”

“Wow… And I thought I was boring.”

When I scowled she laughed.

“I’m kidding.”

“Why do you ask?”

She shrugged. “Sometimes I wish things were different. That I could just get up and go wherever I wanted when I felt like it. But my sisters don’t have to choose between a plane ticket or paying taxes for their business. And I know they’d send for me in a heartbeat… But then Nuala would miss out on being with Cerridwen. I can’t do that to her.”

“Don’t they come here?”

She shook her head. “It was… ugly the last time Nesta came here. Feyre wasn’t so bad but I can’t stand being looked at like I’m some kind of porcelain doll.”

“When are you opening the diner again?”

“The day after Christmas. Why?”

“Do you want to go see your sisters?”

“How?”

“We’d have to drive into Velaris but I can get us on a plane before the night is out.”

“Az… that’s too much.”

“We can come back here and celebrate Las Octavitas together. I’ll give you Christmas until the middle of January.”

She laughed at that.

“You would really do that?”

“For you? Anything.”

*

After baking unholy amounts of cookies, and giving them to everyone downstairs, Elain and I got in my SUV and drove out of Illyria and headed towards Velaris. She slept most of the way and didn’t wake up until the city lights roused her from sleep. She was grinning, despite it being well after midnight, looking around at the brightly lit city I called home. I didn’t even stop at my house, heading straight to the airport. It was a four hour flight to the coast where our mother lived, a city of nearly perpetual summer.

“How did you manage to get a flight out?” she asked as we hurried through the airport.

“I know people.”

“Yes, but how?”

I laughed. “I may have used my position at work to get us out of here.”

We avoided security, and I was grateful for my stupid badge for the first time since Rhys hired me on. Elain was blushing the whole time, especially when she saw the people waiting at the gates.

“No one lost their seat,” I assured her. “I promise.”

We both slept the entire flight and I woke up only because I heard the pilot announcing our landing. It took a few tries and I might have snuck a kiss or two when the flight attendant wasn’t looking, but I woke up Elain just in time for us to get off. We only had our carry-on bags; my backpack and duffle bag, the laptop case and her own bag. We were able to rush outside and catch our Uber. It was humid, my hair already starting to curl by the time we made it to the white manses near the coast. Elain was wide awake, looking at the fishermen in the docks, the sun glistening off the sea.

“What made your parents come here?” she asked.

“Tarquin’s family are modern day royalty here. After the life our father lived, retiring here was a given. Plus, living in the mountains of Illyria was bleak compared to this. My mother loves it here.”

“It’s beautiful.”

“Wait till you see the house.”

She smiled, reaching out for my hand. It was comforting, and we didn’t let go until the enormous white estate came in to view.

“Did you tell them we were coming?” she asked as I helped her out of the car.

“No.”

I tipped the driver and carried all of our bags, leading Elain to the front door. I rang the door bell and then took Elain’s hand in mine, suddenly feeling rather sick to my stomach. I could hear my mother telling Rhys to sit his ass down, and for Cassian to stop hogging all the orange juice. Elain squeezed my hand and I imagined she was just as nervous as I felt.

“I swear to god if you two don’t cut the shit-” My mother stopped as she realized I was standing there. Her violet eyes were soon brimming with tears.

“Mom, what is it?” Cas shouted from the dining room. Something like a sob escaped her mouth and she was crushing me against her before I even knew what was happening.

She was muttering things in Spanish and I saw Cassian walk to the entrance hall.

“Holy shit! Az is home!” he shouted and once he saw Elain, I never saw that man move so fast in my life. He lifted her up and spun her around, making her laugh. I heard Feyre and Nesta realizing their sister was here, Rhys was rushing out to where we were standing and I was hugged and kissed within an inch of my life until our father came down the steps. He smiled when he saw me and everyone let Elain and I breathe to let him come say hello.

My brothers took our bags and Elain was pulled inside by her sisters. My mother led me to the dining room where my seat was unoccupied. Elain and I discarded our jackets and Feyre gave Elain a hair tie so she could put her hair up.

“We were just about to start breakfast,” my mother said, giving me a smile as she sat down.

“Thank god,” I said. “I’m starving.”

Elain turned red in the face. “Yeah… Me, too.”

“How are you here?” Nesta asked, a softness to her features that I’d never known she was capable of. 

“Well… Business is good and I was able to take time off,” Elain said and looked over at me.

“Oh, uh, yeah… I’m off until after Reyes,” I said.

“Does that mean you’ll be home for Christmas?” my mother asked and I just shrugged. I didn’t think anyone could smile that bright… Well, not until Elain was smiling at me.

“And you came together?” Cas asked, wiggling his eye brows. Nesta rolled her eyes.

“We did,” Elain said, and she never looked more like Nesta in that moment. It made me laugh.

“Together, together?” Feyre asked with a sly grin.

“Elain,” my mother said softly, “We were all going down shore for a bit. Did you bring a bathing suit?”

“Uh, no…”

“She can borrow mine,” Feyre offered quickly. “Rhys got me a really pretty dress I wanted to wear today.”

My brother ate it up, even if it was true. He looked at her as if they’d only gotten married yesterday.

“Dad’s bringing the cuatro out,” Cas said and our father rolled his eyes.

“It’s Noche Buena, and Azrielito is home. We’re doing it right.”

I sighed, even if I couldn’t stop smiling.

*

Elain walked down the stairs wearing Feyre’s black two piece, her sisters following behind her. Nesta was too busy fussing over Feyre to notice me staring at Elain.

“This is so small,” she whispered as she took my hand.

“I like it,” I whispered back.

“Of course, you do. But it’s my sister’s,” she said and pulled on my arm so we could start following my parents outside.

I didn’t let go of her hand until I went to help my brothers get the blanket down and mom’s umbrella set up. The cooler was full of beer and water and one really big bottle of coquito. Before I knew it, Elain was approaching me with a bottle of sunscreen. I held my hand out thinking she wanted me to help her but she put some on her hand and tucked the bottle in the crook of her arm.

“They’re not going to get any worse,” I said as she massaged the sunscreen over my scarred hands.

“That’s not a reason to not take care of them,” she said.

“Whatever you say, darling,” I said in imitation of Rhys who was currently covering Feyre’s face in kisses while she laughed and Cas made sounds of disgust.

Elain rolled her eyes. I still remembered the first time we’d met, when she’d seen my hands. I had expected disgust, or even pity. But she’d just put her hands beneath mine, as if to hold them up and called them beautiful. There had been no punch line, no teasing… She’d meant it. With that in mind, I kissed her, leaving her blushing when we parted to breathe.

“What was that for?” she asked. I put my hands on her waist and smiled.

“I feel lucky… that’s all.”

She smirked but got on her tip toes to kiss me, even as Cas whistled.

Feyre called Elain over to take a picture with her and Nesta, leaving me at the mercy of my brothers who were now coming over to where I was. Our father was sitting beside our mother, pouring her a drink.

“About damn time,” Cas said, throwing an arm around my shoulder as he looked over to where the girls were.

“What are you talking about?”

“Elain Archeron, dumb ass,” Cas replied and I elbowed him.

“Don’t start.”

“Oh come on, everyone knows you two would always end up together.”

“I’m afraid he’s right, hermanito,” Rhys drawled.

“Don’t bother her,” I warned them. Rhys put a hand to his chest.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

*

The water was colder than I expected it to be, but everyone save Feyre and my mother went swimming. They were both sharing a mango when everyone stopped to eat. Elain sat down next to me, towel wrapped around her shoulders.

“Play something,” mom said to our father but he handed me the cuatro.

“How about a song or two for your viejo, eh?”

“It’s… It’s been a while.”

It was already tuned up and I let out a sigh. He had taught me to play to help me retain movement and use of my hands after what happened. But it had always been the two of us, sometimes Rhys who would sing… So, with a grin, I looked at my brother whose eyes widened as I started to play. Cassian chuckled and poked Rhys in the ribs.

“Come on,” Cas teased. Rhys grimaced and looked at Feyre who waved him on. So Rhys started to sing once our father finished the introduction, as he always had. Elain was watching me, Nesta and Feyre completely taken with their spouses. My mother was in tears again and I gave her a smile, even as she started taking pictures and Feyre was no doubt recording it.

Before we had finished, Tarquin arrived with his family and had brought with him a small set of congas and we were all singing and playing music. Passing around coquito until the bottle was empty.

We all headed back to the house, Tarquin promising to come over for dinner. Elain had almost managed to pull me into the bathroom with her to shower, but then Nesta walked into the hallway and Elain pushed me out instead. I could hear her laughing and Nesta gave me a death glare that I felt all the way to my room.

Elain joined my dad and Cassian in the kitchen while my mother pulled me upstairs with her.

“Tell me, how did it go?” she asked as she went to her closet. I already knew what she meant. I sighed, taking a seat on the ottoman by her bed.

“It went… alright. He’d kept some of her things and the lawyer needed me to pick it up before the house was sold.”

“Hm… What did she leave you, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I haven’t looked.”

She looked from out of her closet and gave me such a look of disbelief I saw where Rhys got his theatrics from.

“What? I ran into Elain and I just… forgot.”

“Right… Did you finally ask her to be your girlfriend?” she asked as she disappeared again. “Or are you waiting for some other sangano to waste her time?”

“Ma!”

I could hear her laughing. Then she walked out wearing a red dress, her black curls high up on her head.

“I’m happy you’re home,” she said as she came to sit with me.

“Honestly,” I said. “So am I.”

When she touched my hand, I inhaled sharply, but I still turned my hand palm up to hold hers.

“I know that you were always afraid of hurting her feelings,” she said quietly. “And I promise I took no offense… I was lucky to have been trusted with you, Lito… You and Cassian were everything I ever wanted. You completed this family.”

She kissed my cheek and I closed my eyes, relishing the feel of it. She had always been this way, from the first day the social worker brought me to their home. I was never forced to do anything I didn’t want to. She didn’t ask me to call her mom, but she always called me _hers_, as Rhys and Cassian were hers. They took me to therapy, to doctors’ appointments. Gave me my space when I needed it, and with godly patience, showed me what it was to be affectionate.

“I love you,” I whispered to her and I heard her sigh. “And I’m sorry… You didn’t deserve this.”

“You’re here now,” she said, reminding me of Elain. “That’s what matters.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Las Octavitas is basically more Christmas celebration in Puerto Rico. 
> 
> The cuatro is smaller than a guitar and sounds like this. That song in the link is also what I imagined Rhys singing with his family. ;) 
> 
> Everyone knows what coquito is right? If not, it’s a rum and coconut drink made every holiday season. It’s a must. 
> 
> Hermanito literally means little brother. sometimes shortened to “manito” jsyk
> 
> Viejo means old man. In this instance, an endearing way to say dad. 
> 
> lol Sangano means idiot. There are plenty of colorful ways to insult Grayson in Spanish but we’ll keep it pg.


	5. Together On Christmas

Elain was standing in front of the dresser, looking at a picture taken right before I left. Our parents were sitting together, holding hands, with me and my brothers standing behind them. Rhys was in the middle, an arm around me and Cassian, grinning like the prick he was. Cassian was in the middle of a laugh and I looked about ready to disappear. 

“Bed is ready,” I said and she turned around to where I stood. The throw pillows were on the chest in front of the bed, the comforter folded over to the end. She smiled.

“Are you sure your mom is okay with me staying here?”

“Feyre spent the night way before she married Rhys. It’s fine.”

She laughed. “In his room?”

“God, you don’t want me to answer that.”

“Point taken.”

“So, left or right?” I asked and Elain just laughed and walked right towards me.

“Doesn’t matter.”

She took my hand as she climbed into bed and I went in after her, pulling the blanket over us. We were lying on our backs, looking up at the ceiling.

“Dinner was nice,” she said.

“I hope they didn’t tease you too much.”

“It didn’t bother me.”

“You might have to come help my dad with holiday dinners more often though. We hardly have any leftovers for tomorrow.”

Elain turned so that she was looking at me.

“You’re silly.”

“It’s the truth.”

“Only if you’ll play music again.”

I turned on my side, putting an arm around her and pulling her against me.

“I think we have a deal.”

She smiled. “I think we do.”

*

Elain was asleep, clutching the blanket to her chest. I got out of bed, finding my briefs and pajama pants. Sunrise wasn’t too far off so I didn’t need a light to look through my bag and take out the box my mother had left for me. I took the key out of the envelope, checking on Elain every now and then. But she was still sleeping.

The hinges of the box creaked slightly and I kept my gaze on Elain until it was opened. Inside, I found an envelope addressed to me, a small black box, and a little satchel that had the gold bracelet with the _mano de azabache_ on it. I don’t know why that brought tears to my eyes, I would have worn that as a baby. A toddler. Maybe once my childhood hadn’t been so bad.

There was more money, tied with rubber bands and some pictures of us- one from the day I was born, another on my first birthday. I don’t know who took the picture, but she was holding me up, cake frosting on my face and hers. I saw kids at the table and other adults I’d never met. Were they her family? I’d never gotten to know them. She’d been my father’s maid, at first. Then the nanny. She’d run away from home, I knew that much, and though he had been married, she saw my father as her way out. And somehow, she loved him. But his wife, my half-brothers- they made our lives a living hell. I hated my father for allowing it. It was confusing, to see him with her, holding me, smiling. I never saw him smile, never at me, anyway. I was tempted to rip it in half, but I looked at the next one.

I was in a hospital bed, bandages around my hands. She was in the middle of a story, it seemed, Rhys was half asleep in his mother’s lap and Cassian was listening to her. And according to the note on the back, Rhysand’s dad had taken the picture. There were more… But I didn’t feel like I could look at them. Not yet. So I opened the envelope with my name on it and decided that maybe the pictures were easier than this.

_Mi querido hijo_, she wrote. _Perdoname._ Over and over she apologized. For not keeping me safe. For giving me up. For staying with my father. But she had never believed she was capable of giving me the life that Rhysand and Cassian had. She’d known Cassian’s mother, and knew that I would be in good hands. But the apologies continued and then, they stopped. She was proud of me. She missed me every day, she hated that I’d been deployed. Hated that I lived so far away, but knew that I was better off. It hurt. Hurt that she believed I was better off without her. How many times had I begged her to leave with me?

She wrote about Elain, about the things they did together… and about how much Elain talked about me_. I see it in her eyes, Lito, she loves you. And I know that you love her_. I looked up at where Elain was, still asleep. _I couldn’t give you much before_, she wrote, _but maybe I can give you and Elain a head start. _

*

“We’re together on Christmas,” Elain said as she wrapped the towel around herself. The bathroom floor was freezing so I picked her up which made her laugh.

“That we are,” I replied.

“Is everyone really still sleeping?” she asked as I set her down on the bed.

“Yeah… But don’t worry, once Cassian wakes up, so will everyone else.”

I brought her my shirt, and handed off her bag. Her bag had more skin care and make up than actual clothes but I guess I really didn’t mind it. Getting dressed proved to be difficult, but we managed it just in time to hear Cassian banging on Rhysand’s door. Elain answered the door when he started knocking on ours, wearing my shirt, leggings and a pair of fuzzy Christmas socks she’d brought from her apartment.

“How did we sleep?” Cassian asked with a grin, leaning against the doorframe.

“I don’t think I woke up once,” she said and gave him a hug. “Merry Christmas, Cas.”

“Merry Christmas, Elain.” He looked at me. “Put a shirt on or else mom and Nesta will know what you two were doing last night.”

Elain pinched his side for that.

Everyone gathered in the living room, the tree surrounded by presents.

“Who wants to go first?” mom asked, leaning against our dad as he drank his coffee.

“I will,” Cassian said and started tossing presents at everyone from him and Nesta. A new phone for mom, imported cigars for dad as well as a watch, the cheesiest matching pajamas for Rhys and Feyre who would have run off to change in them if I didn’t know that it was taking Feyre a lot of effort not to throw up her breakfast. I wasn’t going to open my gift in front of them but Elain wanted to see. I raised a brow at the gloves and scarf, as nice as they were. Cassian only grinned.

“I had a feeling you’d need them… Considering Illyria is freezing most of the year.”

“What?”

“Emerie told him where you were the moment she saw you driving into town,” Nesta said, giving Cassian a playful shove. I sighed, thanking them even if I wanted to wipe that grin off Cassian’s face.

I’d had my gifts to everyone mailed in as I had not intended on being here until New Year’s… But it was nice to actually see their reactions in person. A gold bracelet for mom with our birthstones on it, a ring made of gold with an obsidian stone for dad. Books for Nesta, a set of watercolor paints for Feyre and a big enough palette to store them in, a Switch for Cassian which made Nesta sigh. He was already taking it out of the box to get it running. “Now he won’t bother you when you’re reading,” Feyre teased which made Nesta smile.

Rhys and Feyre went last, with Rhys handing our parents a box while Feyre had Cassian toss the rest since he was sitting closest to the tree. I purposely took my time opening mine because I knew what was inside. But in typical Rhys fashion, inside the box was another box, and another and another- until our mom was threatening Rhys with her scissors. The rest of us were content to watch them go at it as they did every year. His gifts to her were almost always worth the hassle, and he promised her that this year’s was even better. But he said that every year.

“_Co__ño_, be careful!” Rhys shouted as dad went to just rip the whole thing apart- also, a yearly occurrence.

“What is this?” mom asked as she set the other boxes aside and held the semi torn black box in her hands. She lifted the lid and set it aside. Her eyes widened, and it was almost like everything kind of stopped as she looked at Rhys and then at Feyre and back at the box on her lap. She pulled out the little black onesie, the tiny socks… the picture frame with the ultrasound picture Feyre had sent me just days before. I hadn’t seen our dad cry in a long time, but there he was, holding that onesie and crying.

“_Vente pa’ca, pu__ñeta_,” he said to Rhys, pulling him in for a hug. “Is this real?”

“Yeah, viejo,” he replied. “You’re going to be grandparents.”

Our mother’s words were incoherent as she pulled Rhys out of our dad’s hold and squeezed him tight. Rhys was laughing as tears fell from his eyes.

They got up to go cover Feyre with kisses, my mother already fussing over her. Her sisters hadn’t known and wasted no time in going to congratulate her. Cassian lifted Rhys up and hugged him so hard I was surprised Rhys hadn’t cracked his spine.

“How are you so calm?” Cas asked me. “We’re going to be uncles.”

I was going to say I already knew but Rhys chimed in first.

“You know Az isn’t going to cry in front of us. Especially with Elain here. He has a reputation to uphold.”

I flipped him off and of course mom saw it. Rhys laughed at me but then was quickly silenced by her glare.

*

I watched as Feyre lay back on the sofa, her shirt up as my mom took Nesta’s gold chain and Elain’s ring and held it over Feyre’s belly.

“It’s too early,” dad said but she shushed him.

“It’s never too early.”

“Is it supposed to move?” Feyre asked.

“It’s not moving?” dad practically shouted and went to stand beside Rhys. He looked just as excited as Rhys did. It wasn’t moving at all.

“What does that mean?” Elain inquired.

“That means it’s a boy,” mom replied. “I did it for Rhys. And I was right about Mor.”

“Can I get the knife and the screw driver?” dad asked her and my mom laughed, giving Nesta and Elain their jewelry back.

I got up from where I was sitting and stood beside Elain. I put an arm around her shoulder and smiled when she reached up to lace her fingers with mine.

“Show me your hands,” I said to Feyre who looked at me like I’d just grown a second head. But she sat up and did just that. Palms up, almost in fists. “Boy.”

The room was now filled with shouting, Cassian lifting Rhys off the floor and shaking him.

“Does that really work?” Elain asked me.

I shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out in a few months.”

“I think it’s sweet.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes… It’s something to look forward to.”

We looked at one another and I wondered if she was still talking about Feyre and Rhysand’s baby.

“Yeah, it is,” I replied.

Elain smiled and I decided she was right.

*

Elain and I sat outside on the porch swing. Everyone was inside, already dancing and drinking. Feyre went up to take a nap and I was pretty sure Nesta had gone with her. Elain was leaning into me, her feet barely touching the floor.

“I wish I didn’t have to go back,” she said quietly.

“Do you really have to open back up tomorrow?”

“I’ve never really done this before… Nuala is gone until New Year’s.”

“There’s no one else who could help out while you’re away?”

She shrugged.

“If I find someone to help out, would you stay?”

“But I don’t know anyone who would do that.”

I kissed her forehead. “I do… I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going?”

“To extend your vacation, what else?”

Rhys didn’t mind being pulled out of the living room. He didn’t even seem surprised at what I was asking. But of course, the prick wouldn’t do it.

“I’m too drunk, Azrielito… Besides, it would mean more coming from you.”

“Give me your phone.”

“Don’t look through my photo album,” he said after he unlocked it and laughed. I sighed, finding who I wanted to call and walked to the sitting room where no one ever spent any time. It was quiet, too quiet.

“Rhys, what do you want? It’s Christmas,” Lucien said, but I knew he was smiling.

“It’s not Rhys.”

A pause and then, “Azriel. What a surprise.”

“I need to ask you for a favor.”

“Really?” I heard him chuckle. I sighed.

“I want Elain to be able to spend the holidays with her sisters without worrying about the diner.”

I heard him tell Vassa he would be right back, heard as it became a little quieter.

“Where is Elain?”

“Sitting outside on the porch at my parents’ house.”

“You convinced Elain to take a break?”

“It would seem that way.”

Lucien let out a long sigh.

“How long?”

“Just until the third. And I will pay them double.”

“That isn’t really necessary.”

“All the same. I can’t have her worrying about anything.”

“It will take a few phone calls, but please tell Elain to enjoy her vacation.”

I sighed with relief. “Thank you, Lucien.”

“And Az?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t let her get away.”

*

Elain was taking shots with our dad when I walked back to the living room. I handed Rhys his phone and made my way to Elain. She giggled, her cheeks rosy pink.

“You kept me waiting.”

“You’re on vacation, Elain Archeron.”

“What?”

“We’ll go back on the third-”

She pulled me by the collar and kissed me, much to everyone else’s amusement. Our dad patted me on the back when Elain let me go and went over to tell her sisters the news.

“I haven’t seen you smile this much… ever,” he said.

“Yeah, I’m not used to it. My face kinda hurts.”

He laughed and threw an arm around my shoulder. Elain was sitting next to our mom who was talking to her and whatever she was saying had Elain blushing.

“You being home is the greatest gift you could’ve given us… Well, you brought your girlfriend and Feyre…” He sighed, already tearing up again. “I can’t even believe it.”

“Christmas only started, viejo,” I said, my eyes on Elain, feeling my heart race. “There’s still time for more surprises.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> La Mano de Azabache is a black hand on a gold bracelet given to babies to protect them from the evil eye. I had one, my brothers, and every other baby in the family. 
> 
> Mi querido hijo means my beloved son and perdoname means forgive me. 
> 
> Coño means dammit lol or sometimes like WHAT THE HELL!! but yeah, lol it’s the same vibe 
> 
> Vente pa’ca is the shortened way of say vente para aca which is come here. 
> 
> puñeta is like… asshole, son of a bitch, etc but in Puerto rico we use it as endearment and also like encouragement lol even as a verb. 
> 
> I don’t know if anyone else does this but we take any chain, preferably gold, with a ring or other charm on it and if it spins over the belly it’s a girl. if it doesn’t, it’s a boy. it’s ridiculous and I know gender is a social construct but when I was pregnant it was fun to do it with my grandma and aunties. the knife and scew driver is the same idea. you hide them under the sofa and wherever the mom sits, determines the gender. knife girl, screw driver, boy. with the “show me your hands” if you hold them out the way you would at a nail salon (idk how else to describe it) its a girl. if you basically make kind of a fist, palms up with your nails pointing to you, it’s a boy. my grandma did that to me without explaining and she was like GIRL! and the house was in uproar. lol


	6. Año Viejo

I reached over to Elain’s side of the bed and knew immediately that it wasn’t her playing with my hair.

“What the hell are you doing in my bed, Cas?”

He and Rhys started to laugh.

“Where’s Elain?”

I sat up and looked around the room.

“The girls went shopping. It’s just us today,” Cassian said, throwing an arm around me.

“Mom went with them, too,” Rhys added.

I nodded, fighting down a yawn.

“Get dressed. We’re going out.”

*

I usually hated when Cassian drove, but I was so tired I really didn’t care that he was probably risking a speeding ticket. I had sunglasses on and the biggest thermos I could find full of coffee. They didn’t even give me time to eat breakfast. Rhys was half asleep in the back seat, even with all the wind. Our dad had bought the jeep maybe a month after they’d moved here, and every time Cassian came to stay, he usually asked for the keys and disappeared with Nesta for a day or two.

“Where are we going?” I asked as civilization began to grow sparse.

“Can’t your brother want to surprise you?”

“Your surprises usually end up with one of us shit faced and passed out on mom’s porch.”

“It was one time!”

“Feyre has pictures of the two of us, you know.”

He looked at me so suddenly I had to laugh.

“I’m serious.”

Cassian sighed.

“This one won’t end bad, I promise.”

“Is there food involved?”

“We’ll stop.”

And we did stop. At a gas station in the middle of nowhere. Cassian went in alone and came back out with four bags of food, snacks and drinks. Once he had what he wanted, Cas started driving again. We lost cell service afterwards and after another half hour of driving, Cassian turned carefully; the ocean was to our left and the mountains to our right. He drove downhill before turning left and parked the jeep in the grass. There was a house a little ways in, surrounded by palms and shrubbery.

“What is this place?” I asked.

“I built it. A few years ago.”

“You built yourself a beach house.”

He shrugged as we neared the little porch.

“Tarquin didn’t care. No one really comes out here. Well, only the locals.”

He unlocked the door and we went inside. There was a little sitting area with very comfortable looking sofas. A small kitchen. One bathroom. And a bedroom that barely fit anything else but the bed. The closet was empty save for some towels and what looked to be bathing suits.

But he didn’t bring us here to lounge about, even if I would have been glad to sleep on the sofa. There was only one another room in the house and I had the feeling it had been the living room once. But now, it existed for the sole purpose of storing and caring for the surf boards he had in there.

“Three years?” Rhys asked, leaning against the wall.

“Nesta wanted something for just the two of us… But she woke me up this morning and told me to bring you here because she wanted to be with her sisters. I thought she was kidding, but she’s… she’s really happy that Elain is here. I haven’t seen her smile like that in a long time.”

*

We three sat in the sand, exhausted. I felt as if it would take days to get all this sand off but I didn’t care. This had been amazing. Even with how guilty as I felt, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed being around my brothers.

“If tomorrow wasn’t New Year’s Eve,” I said, “I wouldn’t mind staying here.”

“Oh yeah?” Cas threw an arm around me.

“That was fun.”

“It really was,” Rhys added.

“I’m glad you’re home,” Cas said to me. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too.”

Cassian reached over to push on Rhys, even with me in the middle.

“I missed you, too, hermanito.”

I let out a long sigh.

“Hey, guys, I wanted to run something by you.”

*

Mom didn’t let us in the house when we got back, even though we’d showered at Cassian’s beach house. She sent us to the shower outside in the backyard.

“Az?” It was Elain. I got on my tip toes and looked over the wall.

“Hey.”

“I brought you a towel.”

“You’re the best, El.”

“Where’s my towel?” Cas whined.

“Nesta said you can air dry,” Elain said and Rhys and I did our best not to laugh.

I held my hand out and shut the door once it was in my hands. I wrapped it around my waist and looked at my brothers.

“I’ll come back for you. I promise,” I said, putting a hand to my heart. I was practically shoved out and Elain was blushing, a hand to her mouth as she giggled.

“I made your favorite for dinner,” she said as she held out her hand to me. But I lifted her up off the floor and covered her face in kisses.

“I missed you today,” I said.

“Me too. But I got a dress for tomorrow,” she said as I set her on her feet. “It’s actually a romper. But it’s perfect for the shoes you got me the day we went into town.”

“You bought something based off shoes?”

She looked at me as if I’d blasphemed.

“Az, they are too perfect not to wear them tomorrow.”

Nesta and Feyre were walking out with towels and when they saw us, they motioned for us to be quiet. I was almost tempted to stay in the kitchen and eat but mom looked at me from the living room and I kept walking to the stairs.

I walked to the closet and tried to find her dress, but only found the ones we’d gotten after Christmas. My closet had become mostly hers, and I honestly loved it.

“Don’t even think about looking for it,” Elain said, leaning back against the door. “I hid it in Cassian’s room. Nesta has it.”

I smirked.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

*

Mom was fixing dad’s tie the two of them all ready to go. Cassian had been tying and untying his hair for the last five minutes, waiting for Nesta to come down. Rhys was upstairs, refusing to let Feyre walk down in heels without him there next to her. I was just finished rolling up the sleeves to my midnight blue button up shirt when Cassian whistled.

Nesta rolled her eyes, coming down the stairs in a glittery red dress that I was surprised to see her in. That was usually Feyre’s type of dress. Feyre wore black, as always. They carefully made their way down the stairs and Rhys looked relieved when she walked over to compliment Nesta’s hair.

“I’m almost done!” Elain shouted from my room. I was tempted to go up there but I knew she’d kick me out.

“If she changed her mind I’m going to scream,” Nesta said, and then told Cassian to keep his hair up. He stopped fidgeting then.

I really wasn’t sure what I expected when Elain told me she’d wanted this to be a surprise. I didn’t know what the hell a romper was so I had no guesses. But when she walked down the steps, I realized I would have never guessed it right.

It was rose gold, much like the shoes I’d gotten her. It had long, sheer sleeves with sequins in it. She had a pretty necklace on… but it had a thin chain that went down, down- the neckline was very deep. I knew my brothers were laughing at me for staring, and Elain was blushing but _holy shit_.

“You look beautiful, El.”

“It’s not too much, is it? I was struggling with the stupid body chain and-”

She realized everyone was looking at her. She had tanned somewhat since we’d arrived here and that rose gold against her skin, the way her hair was down-

“Pictures, then we leave,” mom declared. No one even fought her on it. We left their house with her smiling.

*

Tarquin’s mansion was full of people. Live music, an open bar and people were even in the pool. We found Tarquin busy building Año Viejo with Varian. He’d taken up the tradition ever since we did it at the house years ago. So we took turns each year, depending who was hosting.

“I haven’t seen one of these in forever,” Elain said. “Are you going to burn it?”

“We do that at our house. Everyone gets to have a turn with the bat here,” mom said and happily went to hug Tarquin.

It felt like an eternity of running into our friends, greeting one another, introducing Elain to anyone who didn’t know her. But it was nice having her next to me; if we weren’t holding hands, she had her arm looped in mine or I had a hand on the small of her back.

We finally found Amren by the champagne tower. She was dressed in silver, enormous red rubies hanging from her neck. I was surprised she hadn’t tipped over. She smirked when I said as much. She didn’t throttle me because she was far more interested in Elain. 

“You look sublime, Elain,” she said. “Wherever did you find that outfit?”

Amren handed Elain a glass of champagne and took her by the hand to go sit together. I took that as my cue to go find something else to do.

“Oye, pollo!” I smiled turning around to find our mother walking towards me. “I lost your father to the domino table.”

“Already?”

“Thesan and Viviane are playing against him and Kallias.”

“Good god.”

“Y la novia?”

“Amren found her.”

“Pobrecito,” she said and pinched my cheek.

“Want to go dance?”

Her grin was all the answer I needed.

*

As it neared midnight, everyone began to go outside. We had eaten and danced and drank so much champagne, save Feyre who had taken one nap upstairs in Cresseida’s room and had been drinking some fruity drink Tarquin had made just for her. Most of those who’d come in heels were barefoot, even Elain. She had left those upstairs in Amren’s room. We walked out to the grass, Elain sighing with relief. While some gathered around Año Viejo, others were passing around grapes.

“Did you have fun?” Elain asked me.

“Yes. Did you?”

“Yeah… This was amazing.”

“Elain, I-”

The countdown began and Elain joined in.

“Happy New Year!” everyone shouted as fireworks lit up the sky. Elain turned around, pulling me by the collar to kiss me.

“I love you, Azriel,” she said and kissed me again.

“And I love you,” I replied. Soon enough, our family and friends were going around, hugging and kissing one another until Elain and I somehow ended up by Año Viejo who was ready to fall apart. Thesan handed Elain the bat and she giggled nervously.

“Az, you should go.”

“Go on. Just think of something you want to let go of and let him have it.”

She laughed and walked up, standing as if she were at base. She did two practice swings before she hit the muñeco with such force, his head rolled off, clothes and newspapers spilling onto the floor. Everyone lost their shit, Cassian came and lifted Elain in the air while Nesta finished the job. It was Rhys -_Rhys_\- that picked up Nesta, and my brothers carried the sisters around the pool, everyone following around them drunk and riled up.

When Elain came back to me, she had a bowl of grapes in her hand.

“I know it’s late already, but what the hell, right? I couldn’t find anymore of the black ones. I know you don’t like the green ones, I hope red is okay.”

I smiled. “It’s perfect, El.”

“Make a wish,” she said and no, that wasn’t how this went. But my girlfriend was hand feeding me grapes and I was only thinking of every single thing I wanted to give her, everything I wanted to share with her.

I didn’t need twelve wishes for that. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Año Viejo literally translates to “old year”. As a kid, I remember everyone made a man out of old clothes and things, sat him outside and at midnight, you either beat it or set it on fire. Both. It was to symbolize letting go of the old. PLEASE keep the squiggle over the letter N else Año becomes ano which means anus and we don’t want that. 
> 
> Oye means hey! or Listen! but in this case, it’s hey!
> 
> Pollo means chicken or chick BUT when used in this context- it means handsome. don’t ask. I don’t even know and I’ve heard it my whole life. 
> 
> Y la novia? means ‘and the girlfriend?” like, where is she
> 
> Pobrecito. remember the ‘cito’ makes everything small or like a baby, right? pobre means poor so it basically means “poor baby”. or you just really feel bad for the person/ it’s all in the tone. 
> 
> muñeco means doll. or anything that resembles a person but isn’t real. 
> 
> we’re supposed to eat 12 grapes at midnight but no one ever does. that’s a lot of grapes in such a small amount of time.


	7. Feliz Dia de Reyes

Driving in the dark had never bothered me before, but I was exhausted. The flight back home had been awful and Elain was a mess of nerves. We had the entire day to travel to Illyria tomorrow… So I drove us to my house.

I usually felt relief to be home alone after the holidays, but I genuinely missed them. Elain and her sisters had cried when we were all saying goodbye and she’d been rather quiet since we left. But then I turned on the light to the kitchen and Elain rushed over to the double oven. 

“I always wanted one of these,” she said, touching the stainless steel.

“I’ll get one for the apartment.”

“Stop it,” she said with a smile and became distracted by the pots and pans in the cabinets. She opened the fridge, messed with the sink that turned on and off with a slight tap of the back of her hand.

“Probably the best thing I ever bought,” I said as she turned it on and off a few times.

“Do you actually use the kitchen? It’s spotless.”

I chuckled. “I cleaned before I went to see you.”

“Mhm.” She blushed and walked off. Elain found the living room and turned on the light, looking about ready to jump on the sofas.

“I sleep here most of the time,” I said as she stared at the television.

“What’s wrong with your bed?”

“Want to see?”

She laughed and held out her hand to me.

“Show me what’s wrong with your bed.”

Upstairs, I showed her the guest room. My office. The bathroom. My bedroom was at the end of the hall.

“Your bed wouldn’t even fit in my apartment.”

“You’re exaggerating.”

“I sleep in a twin sized bed. This is… what the hell is this?”

That made me laugh.

“This is proof that even I have made terrible choices with money solely because I could. Cassian bought an ice cream truck, Rhys decided a yacht was a good idea… And I got this stupid bed.”

Elain slipped out of her boots and with the bed low enough on the floor, she stepped up on it. She walked to the middle of the bed and jumped. Once. Twice. The third time, she fell back and let out a long sigh.

“How can you not sleep on this? Az, this is amazing.”

“Want to see the bath tub?”

She propped herself up on her elbows and grinned.

“Where?”

I pointed to the door across the room. With a laugh, Elain got out of bed and went to look. She was turning the water on before I even said a word. “Where do you keep the bubble bath stuff?”

“I don’t…”

“Go get my bag.”

When I came back from getting her bag, she was already down to her underwear. She’d tied up her hair. She beamed at me and snatched the bag and rummaged through it until she took out a ball wrapped in pink tissue paper. Even from where I stood, it smelled amazing like-

“Pink sugar,” she said and opened it up, tossing the paper in the waste bin and the ball into the tub. It began to fizz and Elain looked ridiculously excited. “Take your clothes off.”

“What-” I forgot what I was going to say once she was completely naked and stepping into the bath tub.

“Can I live in your bathroom?” she asked, sighing as she leaned back. I got in and sat across from her.

“You can live wherever you want, El. The bathroom and the rest of the house.”

She blushed, almost as pink as the bathwater.

“You’re so silly, Az.”

“So what is this supposed to do?”

“It has stuff that’s good for your skin. And it’s relaxing. Oh! There’s one we should try, dammit I can’t believe I forgot. It’s called a sex bomb and it’s pink and purple and it’s supposed to have aphrodisiacs in it.”

I smiled, reaching over for her and pulled her towards me.

“God, you’re adorable,” I said and she laughed.

“That’s not what you were saying last night.”

It was my turn to laugh. “I love you, El.”

With a sigh, Elain wrapped her arms around me and rested her head against my chest.

“I love you, too, Az.”

*

I woke up early and made Elain breakfast. I spoke to Rhys for a bit before I set everything on a tray to carry it upstairs. She was sitting up, her hair a mess, looking around as if she was confused as to where she was.

“Good morning,” I said and she turned to look at me and smiled.

“Good morning.”

“I made you breakfast.”

She perked up at that.

“Let me go wash up,” she said and hurried off to the bathroom. She came back still completely naked but fresh faced and her hair tied up and out of the way.

“As you were,” I said as she climbed back into bed and sat down. I set the tray over her lap.

“Did you eat?” she asked, reaching for the coffee. I nodded and sat down facing her.

“How did you sleep?”

“I really can’t understand why you wouldn’t sleep here every night. I’m only up because there’s food.”

I chuckled. “It’s not that great when you’re by yourself.”

“Good point.”

I reached over to touch her face and the way she leaned in to me just left me utterly speechless. How I had gone so long without her… I wasn’t going to make that mistake again.

I answered work emails while she ate breakfast, then washed the dishes while she got dressed. We ended up in the living room, the tv on but mostly for the background noise. She was sitting down and I was laying on my side, my head on her lap. She started to run her fingers through my hair.

“Can I tell you something?” she asked.

“Anything.”

“I know this is probably silly but… I almost wish that I didn’t have to go back.”

“Do you _have_ to go back?”

“The diner isn’t going to run itself.”

“I understand… But it isn’t silly.”

“I guess I’m just going to miss you, is all.”

“Why would you miss me?”

“Az, we live hours away from each other.”

I sat up and did my best to fix the mess she’d made of my hair, making her laugh.

“You look fine,” she said.

“Do you think I’m going to just… leave?”

“You hate Illyria.”

“But I love you, Elain.”

“And you have this ridiculous house. And a job.”

“That I can do from anywhere. The house isn’t going anywhere, either.”

“You would stay with me, in Illyria?”

“I only want to be with you, El. If you want me with you out there, that’s where I’ll be. I’ll get a place out there if you think we’re moving too fast.”

“Az…”

“The biggest mistake of my life was walking away from you… That and that stupid bed.”

She giggled even as tears lined her eyes.

“I don’t want to be without you,” I said.

“I’m sorry,” she said as she began to cry.

“You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“Everything I’ve wanted since we were in high school… It’s happening and I shouldn’t be crying.”

“It’s alright, El.”

“Don’t get a place in Illyria,” she said with a sniffle. “We can share my inferior mattress.”

I laughed.

“Are you sure, Az? This is what you want?”

“With all my heart.”

*

Elain went back to work the morning after we went back to Illyria. I went back to fixing her apartment when I wasn’t busy with work. I told her that her Reyes present would be a fully functioning kitchen sink and chairs that weren’t going to fall apart.

“It’s two days away,” she said to me, holding a tray of food. I was sitting at the counter downstairs, taking a break.

“A lot can change in two days.”

“You’re right.”

I watched her walk away and all I could do was smile.

*

It was Vispera de Reyes, and Elain and I were standing outside of the diner. She had her hands on her hips, a look of determination on her face.

“I have no grass.”

“You live in an apartment.”

“I know Lucien wouldn’t mind if I just… No, I don’t want to do that.”

“We could always go for a walk.”

She clutched her bag and smiled.

“Perfect.”

Hand in hand we walked through town until we made it to the trees and found our path. Being the dead of winter meant barren trees and hardly any grass to be had. But Elain was persistent and we kept walking.

“How bad would it be if I put evergreens in the box?”

“I think a horse walking through mountains covered in snow wouldn’t care what was in the box.”

“Az! This is important.”

“It’s fine. Though dried out grass won’t hurt.”

So there we were, two grown adults kneeling down in the middle of a forest, plucking grass from the ground. We didn’t leave until Elain was satisfied. When we made it back to the apartment, she separated the grass and evergreens into two piles; one for me, one for her. She brought out two busted up shoe boxes and we set our grass in them and put the boxes at the foot of the bed.

“I’m so excited,” she said and gave me a kiss.

“I haven’t done this in years.”

“It’s going to be amazing.”

I kissed her back. “Yes, it will.”

We cooked verdura and bacalao if only because Elain really missed being by the ocean. And because it was good as hell.

“Pernil and arroz con gandules tomorrow,” she declared.

“Pasteles?”

“Fuck,” she said and then covered her mouth. “I mean… Yeah. I can make that happen.”

I shook my head. “I can take care of it.”

“It takes forever.”

“I’ll take care of it,” I said and leaned over to kiss her forehead. “What’s for dessert?”

“There’s still cookies from the night we left.”

“You own a diner,” I said and her eyes widened.

“Come on, Nuala and I made those little Guayaba pastries you love so much.”

“And the ones with queso?”

“Yes.”

It felt silly, going downstairs as if we were sneaking around. She didn’t turn on a light either, using her phone to get around. We sat on the floor, eating postres to our heart’s content. We snuck back up to the apartment and just like the last few nights, we cleaned up in the kitchen with her fully functioning sink. We bathed and went to go watch tv on the couch. It was hard to stay awake after all that food but I knew we were both waiting for the other to fall asleep. It truly felt like Christmas when I was a kid, waiting for our parents to go to bed to try to sneak a present… Except it was just Elain and I, and we were celebrating together for the first time since I left. In the end, we went to bed together, too damn tired to keep this game going.

I woke up before Elain and started on breakfast. She’d be up for work soon enough. When her alarm went off, I was already setting our plate on the table.

“Feliz Dia de Reyes,” I said to her. She gave me the sleepiest smile.

“Feliz Dia de Reyes, mi amor,” she replied perfectly. I walked right over to her and pulled her up into my arms. She laughed.

“And you talk about me and my Spanish.”

“But I’m being nice. You only use it when you know I’m annoyed.”

I laughed and covered her face in kisses.

“Let me go get ready… I want to eat before I go.”

I kissed her cheek. “Of course.”

“And then we can see what the Kings left for us.”

She remained in pajamas while we ate breakfast.

“Are you working today?” she asked me.

“No… But if you want me to help out downstairs, I will.”

She giggled. “We’ll see.”

My phone buzzed but I ignored it.

“Work?”

“No, probably Cassian telling me what he got for Reyes.”

“Which we should probably do,” she said with a smirk.

“We should.”

Elain sat down on the bed and I sat on the floor in front of the boxes.

“Ladies first?”

She shook her head. “You go first.”

“You sure?”

Elain nodded. With my eyes on her, I took my box and set it down in front of me. It wasn’t too heavy, and Elain laughed when I shook it. I opened it up and rummaged through the grass. I found a key, a tiny bottle filled with sand and a dark blue velvet satchel.

“As much as I wanted it to be romantic,” she said in regards to the key I held up to her, “But that’s a key to the diner. Essentially, here.”

“And this?” The sand was almost white.

“Our first vacation together.”

I smiled. “The first of many.”

“And the last thing… I promise I won’t be offended if you don’t like it.”

“If it’s from you, El, I’ll love it.”

She only nodded and watched as I set about untying it and pouring its contents onto my hand. It was a silver bracelet with seven cobalt blue stones. It was… I’d never seen anything like it.

“I know you don’t like bringing attention to your hands but I saw it and I just knew if I didn’t get it for you, I’d be mad at myself forever.”

“El, it’s amazing.” I held it up to her. She looked at me funny until she stepped off the bed and put it on me.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I love it.”

I grabbed her box and held it up to her. With a blush, Elain accepted it and went to sit on the bed.

“This is heavy,” she said with a nervous laugh. When she lifted the top off, my heart started racing. I saw when she recognized my mother’s box amidst all that grass and evergreen. She took it out and set the shoe box aside. The key was already in the lock and she turned it, putting the key beside her. She looked at me and I nodded, Elain going on ahead to open it. I’d kept three things in there for her.

“This is a letter addressed to you,” she said.

“It’ll help explain the rest.”

She smirked and took the letter out of its envelope. She had a hand over her mouth as she read it, tears falling from her eyes. But she continued on and I knew she got to the part where my mother began to speak of her because she stopped and looked at me in such a way that I felt a knot in my chest. Worried at how she’d receive the rest of the letter and the other gifts.

When she finished, Elain closed her eyes for a moment to compose herself before putting the letter back in its envelope. She cursed when she saw the envelope filled with money. That made me laugh.

“Az… This is…”

“For us.”

Elain nodded and set that aside to take out the black box. She smiled, looking at me while she opened it. I didn’t realize I was holding my breath as she looked at what was inside, and she inhaled sharply. She looked at me in disbelief before looking at the box again. I remembered how to move, how to breathe, and I got onto one knee, Elain already in tears again. Inside the box was a golden ring set with a princess cut sapphire; one last gift from my mother.

“Marry me,” I managed to say. Maybe it was too soon. Maybe I should have waited and taken her to dinner, or brought her flowers and something more romantic-

“Azriel…” she whispered. For a second, my heart was ready to break in pieces. “You have to put it on me.”

I managed to breath, taking the box from her and pulling out the ring. I set the box aside and reached for her left hand, bringing it to my lips. I slid the ring onto her finger and Elain smiled, admiring it before she practically pushed me onto the floor. I laughed, especially when she started kissing me.

“I love you, Azriel,” she said.

“I love you, too, Elain,” I replied. When her hands started tugging on my shirt, I stopped her. “Don’t you have work?”

“I just got engaged,” she said, flashing the ring at me. “Everything can wait.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vispera de Reyes is the night before Three King, the eve of three kings day
> 
> The word isn’t Spanish,but for some, they say the kings come on camels, others say horses.
> 
> Verdura is root vegetables. Bacalao is cod fish. My grandma makes it all the time and for some reason she hands you a glass of milk to drink when you’re eating this and tbh it goes well together. 
> 
> Pernil is pork shoulder and arroz con gandules is yellow rice with pigeon peas. This is VITAL to holiday dinners. So are pasteles… they’re kinda like tamales but not quite. Anyway, my grandma makes them every holiday and they’re amazing. if you fry them they become alcapuria which I think I mentioned a few chapters ago. 
> 
> Guayaba (guava) and queso (cheese) postres (pastries) are everything. EVERYTHING. 
> 
> Feliz dia de Reyes means happy three kings day (we don’t say three part tho idk why) and mi amor… my love lol


	8. A Trulla For Reyes

Nuala greeted us with an all-knowing grin when we finally made it downstairs. Elain marched right over to her friend and showed her the ring. So began the screaming, the hugs and the congratulations… Not only from Nuala, but from Elain’s customers. She started to cry and did her best to compose herself. Once I was relinquished from the hold of a very happy older woman, I met Nuala and Elain on the other side of the counter.

“Go wash your hands,” Nuala said and looked me up and down. “We don’t own aprons big enough for you.”

“I’ll live.”

Elain chuckled and followed me to the sink.

“You really don’t have to do this,” she said to me. I rolled up the sleeves of my plaid shirt.

“I want to. Besides,” I said with a grin. I leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Es tiempo que le cocino a mi prometida, no?”

Elain sighed, blushing. “Why do you do that to me?”

“Because you love it.”

Elain gave me a look that would have had us right back upstairs on the floor, but Nuala stepped in the room and cleared her throat.

“It’s practically lunch time, Ellie,” she said. Then she handed me a few slips of paper. “Start cooking.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I looked at the orders, all of them recipes my mother had taught me. Had taught Elain.

“See you in a bit,” Elain said and pinched my ass as she walked off. I sighed and got to work.

*

The kitchen smelled like home by the end of the day. We were busy making Reyes dinner for the diner as well as for us. Nuala, bless her heart, had gone upstairs to put the pernil in our oven while Elain and I had taken over for lunch. I had no idea how Elain did this day in and day out and looked forward to it. I don’t know where she found the energy to smile at every single person and chat up a storm. Even at the office, Rhys was lucky if he saw me outside of mine more than once. And seeing Elain and Nuala work together… I wondered if I’d ever be able to give myself that.

“We stop taking orders at five-thirty,” Elain said as she rushed to grab a plate. “We should be upstairs, six-thirty latest.”

“Alright.”

“And Az?”

“Yes, El?”

She stopped, looking at me with a smile that was enough to leave me breathless.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

*

While Nuala manned the cash register, Elain and I brought out the last meals of the night. It was strange to have been in the same place all day and had hardly seen one another long enough for anything more than a few glances. But it was the end of the night and Elain reached for my hand and led me to the back. I did my best to clean while I cooked but it was hard as hell to keep up. Just as I turned the faucet on, I heard the door.

“Shit, did I forget the sign?” she asked and I shrugged. Then we heard the music. The unmistakable sound of the cuatro. A guiro. And then, the unmistakable sound of my father’s voice, singing. I closed the faucet, giving Elain a smile as I reached out for her.

“Come on,” I said and led her out to find our family singing, the customers of the diner clapping or joining in as best they could. Elain was in tears. I put my arm around her shoulder, joining the trulla.

My father hadn’t even finished singing before the hugging and kissing began. More congratulations. That day on the beach, I’d told my brothers what I had planned on doing. On what I wanted for us. I knew they’d never say no, but seeing them here, seeing Elain in my mother’s arms just left me speechless.

“I’m so proud of you,” my father said, pulling me in for a hug. I must have looked skeptical because he laughed. “Going after what you love is never easy… But it is worth everything.”

He was looking at my mother now. I looked at Elain who was laughing at something Cassian said.

“You’re absolutely right.”

“Your mother and I got married so fast everyone thought we’d be divorced before the year was up. We fought a lot; I was young, a complete pile mierda. And she was so sure of herself, and for the first time in my life someone was calling me out on my shit.

“But she had been in a very bad place… I met her once and I just knew.”

“Is that why you guys were so lenient with Rhys and Feyre?”

He chuckled. “Maybe.”

“What changed? You guys didn’t fight when I moved in.”

“She’s my best friend. I’m utterly worthless without her. There is no point to anything if she isn’t there.”

Elain looked my way and smiled.

“I agree with that completely.”

My mother and Elain disappeared into the kitchen with a very large plastic bag. Cassian started going around and collecting the plates while Rhys cleaned up after the customers. I gave Nesta the key so Feyre could go upstairs and lay down while I finished cleaning the kitchen. I let it slip that there was pernil in the oven and our father went up to “check on it”. No doubt to see if the cuero was crispy yet.

“He told me you two forgot,” my mother said as she boiled the water for the pasteles. “I prepared them before we left.”

Elain saw me walk in and immediately came over and hit my arm.

“You knew they were coming!”

I laughed. “Maybe.”

“I had a trulla for Reyes,” she said wistfully.

“That was the plan.”

“And she brought pasteles,” Elain said with a big smile and returned to my mother’s side.

Once the diner was set, we bid Nuala a good night and made the trek upstairs everyone carrying a pot or a bowl of food. Our father was already chewing on a piece of cuerito when we walked in and offered what was in his hand to our mother, looking for all the world like a kid that just got caught doing something he shouldn’t.

Elain went to shower and change while I took over the kitchen with my parents who refused to go sit and “do nothing.” Feyre was sipping on ice water while Rhys fussed over her. Nesta and Cassian were getting the plates out so by the time Elain was done, dinner was ready.

My brothers and I sat on the floor so the girls could sit on the sofa and our parents took the chairs. The tv was on but no one was really paying attention to it.

“When do we hear wedding bells?” our father asked us. Elain blushed and looked at me.

“I just asked her this morning,” I said feeling put on the spot.

“I married Rhys the same night he asked me,” Feyre said with a shrug. She looked a little better now and had managed to eat a few bites of food.

“Nes and I waited two years,” Cassian said.

“Because of work.”

“Would you have married me the moment I asked?” he said in a playful tone. Nesta actually blushed.

“I’m honestly just… I’m lucky that Elain even let me stick around. I know that I don’t really deserve it.”

Everyone looked shocked, save Elain who leaned over and kissed my cheek.

“Hush. None of that,” she said. “I want a winter wedding. So, it’ll be a while.”

“It’s still winter,” Cassian said, earning a glare from his wife.

“Yes, it is. But I want to make sure that Az is comfortable and that we’re both in agreement with things.”

It was hard for me to meet everyone’s gaze but I was smiling nonetheless.

When Elain noticed my parents yawning, she went and changed the bed sheets and told them to sleep there. Cassian started taking the cushions off the sofa and tossing them on the floor.

“What are you doing?” I said and made to put them back.

“Making a bed for Feyre and Rhys.” He looked at me funny before I realized it was a damn sofa bed. Elain snorted from where she was standing. She’d failed to mention that. Rhys, however, was in the closet and took an air mattress out.

“Why don’t the girls take the bed and we cozy up on this?” he said as he rolled it out on the floor.

“This reminds me of when you all were in school,” our mother said from where she sat on the bed. Dad was helping her put pins in her hair before wrapping the silk scarf around it. Elain and her sisters took turns changing into pajamas in the bathroom while we waited on the air mattress to fill up.

“We’re going to break this thing,” I said as Cassian approached with pillows and blankets.

“No we won’t. Just don’t move too much.”

“Tell that to Rhys.”

Rhys who abandoned the air mattress to offer Feyre his pillow. Everyone started saying goodnight and I went to the bathroom to change. I had to take a second to breathe. My family was out there, and I was engaged to Elain. It didn’t seem real. But I could hear them, my brothers bickering over the mattress. Feyre warning her sisters that she might snore a bit. I heard our mother telling our father that he better stay out of the fridge tonight. That made me laugh. This was very, very real.

Elain was waiting for me when I walked out. Cas made kissing noises as we kissed goodnight. Elain flipped him off before getting in bed with her sisters.

“Come cuddle your big brother,” Cas said with a laugh. He even held his arms out and made grabby hands. I tried not to laugh.

“Shut up, Cas,” Rhys groaned out, covering his face with his pillow. The two of them together took over the entire air mattress. This was not going to work out.

I grabbed my pillow and blanket and walked off, gathering the cushions of the sofa and putting them together so that I could lay on them.

“Why are you over there?” Cas whispered and Rhys let out an aggravated sigh. I chuckled and turned my back on them both. I realized Elain was sleeping at the edge of the mattress, looking my way. She smiled and soon enough I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket.

_Are you comfortable? _she asked. I looked at her and grinned.

_Can’t complain, _I replied._ The view is amazing. _

*

I woke up to the sound of Feyre running to the bathroom. I winced when I heard her emptying her stomach. I was going to wake Rhys up but I saw him using Cassian as a pillow and decided to keep him that way. By the time Feyre walked out, I had toast for her and a bit of water. She made to apologize but I pointed at her husband.

“That view is worth everything,” I whispered and she tried not to laugh.

“Thank you,” she whispered back and went to sit at the table, but not before she took a picture of her husband and brother in law sleeping.

“Send me that, please,” I said and she gave me a wink.

I joined her once I had coffee and galletas. She was looking at me funny and I wondered if I needed to get her a bucket or something.

“Are you really staying here?” she asked quietly.

“Yeah… I mean, we’ll go to the house but Elain’s life is here. I won’t take her from it.”

Feyre smiled, softly tapping her fingers against her glass of water.

“This is all she’s ever wanted, you know. A family. You know we didn’t really have one until we met you and your brothers. Your parents. And then you… She used to write her name with your last name on her binder and tell me all these things about you. It was the sweetest thing.”

I didn’t even know how to respond to that and it made Feyre smile.

“Even when she was with Grayson… The vision she had of her wedding day always ended with you waiting for her at the altar. Never him. And he must have sensed that even if she was trying so hard to pretend that she was over you.”

“Which is my fault.”

Feyre shrugged. “We’ve all fucked up in our own way. What matters is that you’re here now, and you love her. It’s all she ever wanted.”

“Walking away from all of you, from Elain- it was the worst thing I’ve ever done… I know that I can’t live without her. Without any of you.”

Feyre looked at her sisters where they slept. Any minute now, Elain’s alarm would go off.

“Elain looks alive again,” Feyre said softly. “She’s good at putting a smile on her face, at trying to keep the peace… But I haven’t seen her this happy in a very long time, Az… I’m glad that it’s you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Es tiempo que le cocino a mi prometida, no?” translates to “It’s about time I cook for my fiancé, right?”
> 
> The guiro is this thing here. I can’t explain it. 
> 
> Trulla (pronounce true-yah or true-jah depending on how you typically say your ‘y’ sounds in Spanish) is basically caroling. also called a parranda. 
> 
> Pile mierda translates to piece of shit. I have no idea how the “pile” part is actually spelled because I’m sure it’s a shortened way of saying other words. So, oops. 
> 
> Cuero/cuerito means skin. In this case, we are talking about the pork skin everyone fights over on holidays. If it isn’t crispy, it’s not right. believe me. 
> 
> The part where their dad is helping their mom with her hair. When we straighten our hair, we’ll put it in a doobie (dead ass have no idea how it’s spelled. I promise Spanish was my first language lol). You wrap your hair around your head and pin it into place. Then you wrap some sort of scarf around it. Keeps your hair straight.


	9. It's A Surprise

Eight days of Christmas.

That’s what I promised Elain. It was harder to pull off than I thought it would be considering I had to physically leave the apartment and talk to people to get it done. Rhys and Cassian had already started betting that I would give up before the day was out, but after I finished talking to Emerie it wasn’t that bad. Most of the shop owners remembered my mother, and Devlon was still around. He was all too happy to help- much to my surprise. 

I left Lucien for last. He was at one of his offices in the nicer side of town. I ran into Vassa on the way in and she seemed just as surprised to see me as I was to see her.

“You haven’t changed a bit,” she said with a smile.

“You look beautiful, Vassa,” I said, feeling stupid as hell.

She laughed. “I feel like shit, so I appreciate that.”

“Is Lucien still here?”

“Yeah. I was just bringing him lunch. I’m going out with his parents. They want to work on the nursery.”

“Right… Well, since I have you here, I wanted to ask you something.”

*

Lucien was holding a sandwich in one hand and had his phone in the other when I was led to his office.

“Have a seat, my dad just sent me a picture of a crib and I swear he better be joking.”

I chuckled at that. “Our parents are going to stay with Feyre and Rhys for a while… I have a feeling they’re going to move in.”

Lucien sighed. “They’re using your holiday as an excuse to stay longer. We’re not Illyrian, but hey, what’s eight more days of Christmas?”

Lucien looked happy, despite his complaining. He set his phone down and reached for a plate of rice and korma.

“Want some?” he asked.

“No, thank you. Elain probably has like four new recipes waiting for me to try when I get back.”

“Does she know you’re here?”

I shook my head. “It’s a surprise.”

“So, how can I help?”

“I have the rest of the week covered, but our family leaves in the morning and I wanted tonight to be as close to how we celebrated it as kids as possible.”

Lucien smiled. “I remember… That sounds great, Azriel. Vassa would love it, honestly. Any excuse to cook for an army.”

“She gets off work around six or seven and I know she’ll never say no to a walk. Especially with her sisters.”

“I like that idea. And since I have you here, I have to ask you something.”

I adjusted myself in my seat.

“Yeah, sure.”

“You know your father’s house had been purchased.”

“That’s how I ended up here.”

Lucien smirked.

“I bought it.”

“What?”

“The land is expansive. Figured we’d build some houses there.”

“And you’re telling me this because?”

“I’m tearing the house down.”

“Oh.” I considered Lucien for a moment. “That’s probably the best thing that could have happened to that place.”

“Are you sure you got everything that belonged to your mother?”

It was hard not to be surprised. Lucien and I had never really been friends. It was a mutual tolerance for Elain’s sake that kept us in each other’s good graces. Nothing more.

“She set aside what she wanted me to have.”

Lucien reached for his lunch bag, taking out a fork wrapped in a napkin.

“I’ll be sure to call you if anything comes up. Otherwise, I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah… Thanks, Lucien.”

He shrugged. “It’s nothing.

*

Elain stepped out into the cold in her pink hat, the one with the pompom on top. Her scarf and pink coat. I smiled as she made her way towards me, shoving her hands into her pockets.

“It’s windy out,” she said as she kissed me hello.

“We’ll stay local then, no forest path,” I said and she giggled.

Nesta and Feyre stepped out, Cassian and Rhys not far behind. Our parents were the last to leave, both holding their own thermos of coffee. I led the way, arm in arm with Elain. Illyria was still busy, well, as busy as a small town can be.

It was hard not to smile as we began to hear the music. Outside of Emerie’s shop, there were viejitos playing dominos on the side walk while some played the cuatro and sang aguilnaldos. People were dancing, someone was even cooking on a grill. Outside. In the dead of winter.

We joined in, of course, Elain wanting to dance with me while my brothers went after the food. It was amazing how less than a month ago, I was absolutely miserable and now… I couldn’t remember the last time I felt this happy. This alive.

“We’re taking this to town,” Emerie said. “Wanna come with us?”

Elain very happily said yes.

From Emerie’s we went to various other shops, singing together. More and more people joined until we were outside of Devlon’s house. The garage was open, his wife was serving coquito and there were four tables set up for dominos. He welcomed us rather excitedly and after I tried the pitorro, I knew why.

Our group was a little smaller once we left; house after house of people we knew, of people who knew my mother. I knew that I’d planned this for Elain, but it healed something in me- knowing that after all this time, my mother was remembered. Fondly. I was shown pictures of her, told stories about her as a kid. The life she’d had before she met my father.

Elain was happily sipping on coffee as we turned on the street that would lead us to Lucien’s neighborhood. From here I could see her parents’ house, all the lights off save for one upstairs.

“Don’t,” I heard Cassian say and Nesta muttered something I didn’t catch. “They’re not worth it.”

“What are we doing out here?” Elain asked.

“We have one more stop,” I replied.

When we were standing outside of Lucien’s front door, Cassian cleared his throat and in a very exaggerated voice, began to sing the words to ‘Yo Tenia Una Luz’, a song that left us laughing every year thanks to him. It didn’t help when everyone else started to actually sing it, even when Lucien opened the door, laughing. He welcomed us inside, his parents already rushing over to say hello.

Vassa took Elain by the hand and guided us all to the dining room. The last time I had been here, Helion and Aurelie had just gotten married and were throwing a party to celebrate. But now… there were gold balloons and a huge ‘CONGRATULATIONS’ banner hanging from the wall. There was a white cake covered in gold flowers at the center of the table.

Elain was already in tears by the time she noticed the picture of us on New Year’s Eve. She looked over at Feyre who gave her a wink. I hadn’t seen that one. We weren’t even looking at the camera. We were dancing, looking at one another with stupid smiles on our faces. I felt an arm around my shoulder, and through tears I saw Lucien grinning.

“You didn’t think we’d just let this go by unnoticed, did you?” he said.

“It was so sweet of you to want us to be part of your little surprise for Elain,” Vassa said. “I couldn’t help it. I have my husband thanks to her.”

Now, that was a story I hadn’t heard. Everyone sat down, passing around dishes while Vassa explained what exactly Elain had done.

“I mean, everyone knew that Lucien had a crush on Elain. Like forever,” Vassa said, looking at Lucien who looked ready to disappear. “But obviously, well maybe not to you, Elain was into you.”

Now _I_ wanted to disappear.

“When Elain wanted to open the diner, I was working at the bank. Lucien came with her to handle the loan-”

“What loan?” I asked.

“I paid it back,” Elain said defensively.

“She wouldn’t let anyone help her,” Lucien said.

“Elain invited me to the grand opening,” Vassa said with a smile. “I was her date to Lucien’s work party after that. And Lucien called me to be his date to Elain’s Christmas party that same year.”

“It was the only way I knew she’d go,” Elain said with a blush. “I told her I didn’t want to go alone.”

“Yes, she didn’t want to be alone but ditched us once he and I started talking.”

“Where did you go?” Lucien asked. “Honestly, you were gone for hours.”

Elain cleared her throat, reaching for her glass of wine.

“Remember the pink stains in the bath tub you bitched about for a week?”

Lucien’s eyes widened. “You!”

“What? It’s not like anyone noticed me go take a bubble bath. I had clothes here and I knew you two weren’t leaving so…”

It was Vassa and Lucien’s turn to blush.

“Why did you have clothes here?” Nesta asked.

“The same reason Cassian keeps a drawer of clothes at my place,” Elain replied haughtily, ending that conversation.

After several glasses of wine, and very terrible jokes, Helion brought out champagne. Elain and I cut the cake, and I wasn’t surprised when she smeared it on my face. After a few overly sweet kisses and the flash of someone’s camera, we cleaned up as the flutes were passed around. When everyone looked at me, I laughed nervously.

“Well… Thank you, all of you,” I said. “I love Elain more than words can really express… I’m still expecting to wake up at any moment. I…”

I stopped, needing a second to breathe. At least I wasn’t the only person in tears, nor was I the only one surprised when Nesta spoke. Even with tears in her eyes, she held herself together, her voice didn’t even shake.

“We didn’t have the greatest childhood, I don’t think any of us did… Except you, Rhys, but your parents are godsends, so I know Cas and Azriel were given the love they deserved.”

Cassian snorted. Rhys looked scandalized. Nesta tapped her nails against her flute, and it was almost as if she was nervous.

“But to the point. My sisters and I didn’t know true happiness until we met you all. We never knew a mother’s love until we met your mother. Your father showed us that not all men were utterly worthless. And I suppose you three aren’t so bad.

“Azriel, there is no one else I trust with Elain. She’s proven to us time and time again that she can be alone, that she can take care of herself… But I didn’t want her to be lonely, and I didn’t know how to change that. Knowing that you love her so much, that she is going to be as happy as Feyre and I are- This is all I ever wanted for her. So, thank you. And congratulations.”

There was applause, hugs and kisses and then-

“Where is _his_ threat to be good to your sister?” Rhys asked, looking at Nesta incredulously.

“He’s not across the country, eloping in the dead of night with her,” Nesta replied, sitting down and asking Cassian for more champagne. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Viejitos means old men, but in a nice way lol
> 
> We’ve mentioned Coquito before. Pitorro is Puerto rican moonshine. :)
> 
> Yo Tenia Una Luz translates to “I had a light”. I found this video because I prefer it sung by parrandas than to the studio version. This is the song my uncle sang when he showed up on Christmas with his guitar and everyone brought out their instruments and it was a riot.


	10. Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whelp this is it for my hallmark/Puerto rican elriel fic lol Honestly I love these two so muchhhhh and writing them last winter was everything. Maybe i'll catch the bug again. who knows 
> 
> I hope y'all have a wonderful holiday season. This weekend is solstice and Yule so more likely than not i'll have a few extra updates for the other fics because of it. That's the plan anyway ;)

I imagined that this was the first time in my entire life that I was happy to see that stupid ‘Welcome to Illyria’ sign. The snow was melting, leaving the ground a muddy mess. But the sun was going down and Elain would be getting off work any minute now. My job had interrupted our holiday, and Rhys apologized profusely. I had only been gone for a few days but it felt like I’d gone years without her. 

I had to admit, talking to her on the phone all night made me feel like a fucking teenager again. Getting pictures from her at all hours of the day was nice. Except for when I was in the middle of a meeting and she decided that it was a good time to model her new pajamas. Which were nothing more than scraps of satin and lace that covered nothing. I took many cold showers while I was away.

I parked the SUV beside her Oldsmobile and stepped out into the cold air. I grabbed my bag and after making sure she’d locked her car (which she had), I made my way upstairs.

Elain was setting food on the table when I opened the front door.

“You’re home,” she said and I closed the door, just in time to lift her up and spin her around when she ran to me. I let out a sigh of relief and just held her against me, realizing that I actually did feel like I was home.

“I missed you,” I said, setting my bag down. She giggled, tugging on my jacket for me to lean down and kiss her.

“I missed you, too. Now go wash up. I made your favorite.”

‘Your favorite’ was an understatement. It was like Christmas dinner all over again, except it was only the two of us.

“I know our Christmas ended while you were gone but… I wanted to finish it together.”

I already had food in my mouth so all I could do was nod.

“So when you’re done, we have a busy night.”

I raised a brow and she turned pink.

“That’s _later_,” she said. “I have a few things I want to do first.”

*

“Where are we going?” I asked, noticing that she was driving towards the more secluded part of Illyria.

“You’ll see.”

“There’s nothing out this way.”

“That you know of.”

Her smirk made me laugh. So I kept quiet, looking out the window although it was too dark to see much. But I recognized the neighborhood… I’d walked through it just weeks ago. I looked over at Elain who was humming to herself, as if she were oblivious to where we were.

When Elain drove off the road and onto dirt, she laughed at the expression on my face.

“I know where I’m going.”

“Are you sure?”

“Have a little faith in me.”

Elain parked the car and got out, waiting for me to join her. We held hands as she guided me through the dark. There were some lights from the neighboring houses, but they were too far to do much.

“A lot of things changed while you were gone,” she said. “But I think you’ll be happy.”

I wasn’t sure how to tell her that my father’s house was going to be coming up but then… it never did. There was nothing there save the trees that I remembered climbing as a kid.

“Wait here,” she said, letting me go to hurry on ahead. I shoved my hands in my pockets and tried to see what she was doing. She let out a little yelp which nearly gave me a heart attack but soon enough, the trees around me were illuminated with little white lights. I looked around until I saw Elain by what had been the garden. All that was left was the rocks that would surround the now dead flowers and the old wooden swing my stepmother had always hated but was not allowed to get rid of.

“Elain… What-” I didn’t really know what to say. She came to take my hand and bring me to sit with her on the swing. The last time I’d sat here, my mother had been there with me. I hadn’t even gone to live with Rhys yet.

“Lucien told me he was getting rid of everything… But your mom loved this here. So I asked him to make sure no one touched it.”

“You want to keep my mother’s garden?”

“Yes.”

“Won’t that get in the way of Lucien’s plans to build something here?”

She shook her head.

“He’s building something very special… And this garden, I’m going to take care of it. And show others how to do the same. Mothers with children who need somewhere safe to live.”

I looked out at the now barren expanse of land. It was large enough for many houses to be built on it with room to spare. To think that this place I’d considered hell would some day be someone’s safe haven…

“I don’t think there is a better end for this place.”

“Not an end. A new beginning.”

*

-The Following Winter-

Rhys stood beside me, making sure his midnight blue wrap was secure.

“Azariah is going to wake up if you keep doing that,” I whispered. My brother glared at me which only made me chuckle. Rhys kept an arm beneath his son despite the wrap, using his other hand to shove me. A flash of the camera and we both found Emerie standing with a grin on her face. Great.

Music began to play, taking the attention off Rhys and I as Cassian and Nesta walked into the chapel. Then came Amren and Varian, Mor and Andromache. They were dressed in various shades of blue, their thick shawls courtesy of Viviane. Kallias had given us the tailored long coats we’d wear outside. Even Azariah had his own little version of the groomsmen’s outfit, just like Leyla, Lucien and Vassa’s daughter wore a dress similar to the bridesmaids. When her parents walked by, she began to cry and Lucien took her from Helion’s arms and carried her along with him.

“Shh,” Lucien said softly. “Auntie Ellie is coming now… Look, beti, there she is…”

My heart was in my throat. I watched as Feyre walked Elain down the aisle. Feyre in tears, and Elain… Rhys placed a hand on my shoulder. She was smiling beneath the veil, holding the bouquet of blue and white flowers she’d made herself. I had to remember to breathe. The dress was exactly as Elain had always wanted; vintage lace, long sleeves and a tulle skirt- I remembered that, and I smiled. How many times had she described her dream wedding to me, explaining the fabrics and flowers, even the way she wanted the weather to be like. And how many times had I saw myself in that dream, waiting for her at the altar?

I was crying by the time Feyre brought Elain to me, lifting the veil away from her face. Feyre put our hands together before going to stand with her sister and the others.

“God, you look beautiful,” I whispered.

Elain giggled. “Stop. You’re going to make me cry. Again.”

Everyone was seated and the priest began the ceremony. It was more for my parents, for tradition. A prayer was said, and then it was time for our vows. Elain breathed in and let it out slowly, giving me a big smile.

“I love you,” she whispered, wiping her tears with the back of her hand before taking my hands in hers. She brushed her thumbs over my scars, looking up at me. “I don’t think it’s a big secret to anyone that I’ve dreamed of this moment since I was in high school… writing your name with mine on my binder.”

Everyone laughed.

“But even before I fell so hopelessly in love with you, Az, every good thing life had to offer- I found it with you. My sisters and I found our family when we met you and your brothers. Your parents. I knew what it was to feel safe, to feel like I mattered.

“One day, the mistakes I’ve made won’t sting so much… But if we’re being honest, I would do it all again if it meant that I would find you after all that time. If it meant that I was going to be the lucky girl who gets to call you hers. I love you, Azriel.”

I was kissing her before I knew what I was doing. I could hear everyone laughing. But god, I didn’t care. I kissed her once more for good measure, eyeing the priest with the barest amount of shame I could muster. Elain blushed, and I took her hands in mine and cleared my throat. She had told me constantly the last few months that I wasn’t obligated to speak in front of everyone, that we could have done regular vows and get it over with. But… I owed it to her, to myself.

“El dia en que te conoci,” I said, not meaning to switch languages on her but I was so fucking nervous I couldn’t help it. “I was so confused as to why someone so… bright, so perfect, was doing talking to me. There was no pity in your eyes, no disgust. I was waiting for it, but it never came.

“You have always been my best friend, El. I spent all of my life hiding, pushing away everyone that I love. But when I’m with you, I don’t want to hide. I don’t have to. Eres el amor de mi vida, eres mi paz y mi luz. A veces pienso que esto es nada mas que un sueño pero es mi realidad. Te amo, con todo mi corazon, todo mi ser-”

The chapel was full of laughter as it was Elain who kissed me then, surprising me, even.

“You can’t do that to me,” she said, flustered. “Christ, Az.”

She cleared her throat, smoothing my jacket and apologized to the priest who already looked ready for the day to be over. With stupid grins on their faces, my parents presented us with el lazo; As padrinos, Feyre and Rhys were meant to do it, but we had all talked it over- giving my parents this moment meant everything. Elain and I participated in La Santa Cena, my mother came and gave us her blessing.

When we were pronounced marido y mujer, everyone started to cheer. Elain and I smiled at one another- this was real. We were married.

“_Now_, you may kiss the bride,” the priest said. We laughed, Elain letting go of my hands to take me by the lapels of my jacket, getting on her tiptoes to kiss me. I smiled, bringing my arms around her.

“I love you so much,” I said, tears still falling from my eyes.

She kissed me again. “I love you, too.”

*

-Two Summers Later-

Illyria in the summer was, simply put, hell. But we were only here for a few days while Elain settled business matters with the diner. The AC in the SUV was a godsend, especially considering how much ice cream I had in the passenger seat. I parked in my usual spot behind the diner, still not used to _not_ seeing her Oldsmobile there. But considering things, her decision to sell it was smart. _Her_ SUV was still something of a sight, Rhys and I both were considering trading ours to get that one.

I grabbed the bags and stepped out into the sweltering heat. I went through the diner, waving hello at Briar and Nuala. Cerridwen was there, mopping the floor by the back door. She simply waved and I apologized as I walked by and headed upstairs.

“I’m back!” I said as I put the tubs of ice cream in the freezer. I could hear the shower going, but Elain didn’t say anything. With a shrug, I went in search of Elain’s favorite bowl and spoon. The sprinkles and chocolate sauce that turned into a shell.

“Do you want cherries?” I asked but still nothing.

I walked to the bathroom door and knocked.

“El, are you alright?”

“Yeah,” she said but sounded far from alright. I tried the door and found it unlocked.

“I’m coming in,” I said and when she didn’t reply, I walked in.

When I pulled the curtain back, Elain was standing with her hands on the wall, head down. Her back to the water.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

The bathroom floor was wet, too, but she’d tossed her clothes on it.

“Don’t get mad,” she said. I sighed.

“You went to work, didn’t you?”

“I was bored!”

She looked at me and then cursed.

“You’re supposed to be on bedrest, El.”

“Yeah, well. I wanted cake and then someone ordered the-”

She winced and stopped talking.

“Come on, I’ll set you up in bed.”

She shook her head.

“We have to go.”

“What?”

“I kind of got carried away serving lunch and well… my water broke.”

There really wasn’t much left in life that scared me. But this… this definitely scared me. I stared at her and Elain had the nerve to laugh.

“Nuala helped me up here,” she said. “Cerridwen… helped clean up.”

I stepped back and looked down at the floor and then back at her. And then I ran. Out of the room, franticly looking for her bag. My bag. But they were at the house. In Velaris. Because she wasn’t supposed to be due for another two weeks and that was where her doctor was. In Velaris. Not here.

I was going through the drawers when Elain stepped out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel.

“Just get my blue dress. The one you got me when we went to see your mom,” she said and went to sit on the bed. “My sandals are in the closet.”

“Elain… This isn’t… What do we do?”

“I called Feyre. She’s at the house getting our stuff. Doctor knows, Lucien called Madja.”

“Madja?” I knew she worked at the birth center here; it was where Vassa delivered Leyla. But it didn’t do anything to ease my worry. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

I brought her the dress and her body lotion. I massaged it into her skin while she talked. This was so ass backwards, I was supposed to be the one calming her down and-

“It's fine, Az. Madja said by the time I get there, I’ll have a room.”

“How can it be fine?”

“Oh! Get my bikini top. The pretty pink one. I want to wear that in the pool.”

“They have a pool?”

She giggled before wincing again.

“It’s going to be fine,” she said again. “Help me get dressed.”

*

I brushed back Elain’s hair, tying it up the way she’d asked. She’d gone through two huge cups of ice and was waiting for her third before she went walking around the birth ward. Madja was still busy filling the pool.

“I should’ve stood in bed,” Elain said with a little whimper. I sighed.

“Your water would’ve just broken in bed,” I said. “She’s ready today.”

Elain made a whiney sound.

“Why do you have to be right?”

I laughed, kissing her forehead.

“Let’s go walk. Unless you’d rather dance.”

“I want this to be over.”

I helped her to her feet and took her hand.

“A walk it is,” I said.

When we made it back to the room after walking the entire ward, Rhys and Feyre were there. Elain started crying the moment she saw her sister.

“Come on,” Feyre said softly, guiding Elain to the bed while Rhys dragged me out of the room.

“What-”

“Cassian is with Nesta at the store. What does Elain want for the baby? There’s no way you guys are going to want to drive to Velaris from here.”

I cursed. The nursery was completely ready for her at the house. But the apartment? We’d done nothing but baby proof the electrical outlets. There were some clothes and boxes of diapers and wipes, but that was it.

“Bassinet,” Rhys said to Cassian on the phone. “They have car seats in their cars… I found a wrap in the diaper bag… We forgot her nursing pillow, grab one of those. And get Az some ibuprofen.”

Once he got off the phone with Cassian, Rhys hugged me tight, reassuring me that everything would be alright.

Our father was outside with Azariah when we went back to the room.

“Madja is checking her now,” he said. He kissed Azariah. “Te vienen a quitarte la falda.”

“Don’t say that,” Rhys snapped.

“Falda, papa, falda,” Azariah repeated and Rhys sighed.

Madja opened the door.

“Seven,” she said as we walked in.

Elain was leaning over one of the counters, Feyre massaging her back. She’d put on little black swim shorts and had taken the socks off. Feyre came over to me and kissed my cheek and went to go feed Azariah.

“Hey,” I said softly. I put my hands on her shoulders.

“I never got to eat my ice cream,” she said. I laughed.

“When she gets here, you can have all the ice cream you want.”

“Almost.”

“Almost,” I said, kissing her shoulder and began to massage her back. “You think you want to go in the pool?”

Elain nodded.

Once I was in my swimming trunks, I helped Elain into the pool. The water was warm and her sigh of relief was the first in hours. She sat against me, her back to my chest. Feyre had taken up photography ever since Azariah was born; when she wasn’t painting, she was taking pictures. Or as she was right now, taking video. Elain flipped her sister off but then laughed, even as a contraction hit.

Elain leaned over the pool edge to kiss Leyla and Azariah goodbye when Lucien’s parents came to pick them up. Once the baby was born and we were settled in, Rhys and Feyre would go stay with them. My parents were going to the apartment with Nesta and Cassian to help set things up. But I knew they’d all be here in the morning.

When her contractions started coming in more frequently, Madja asked if Elain wanted everyone out. She didn’t care. She told Feyre and Nesta what to get from the bag, where to put it. She sent Cassian and my dad to go get her Chinese food.

“By the time you get back,” she struggled to say. “She’ll be here.”

After some time, Elain squeezed on my hand and cursed so colorfully, even Feyre was surprised. But then, she let go of my hands.

“I can feel her,” she said and before I knew it, I saw blood in the water. Time seemed to stop as Elain pulled our daughter out of the water and placed her against her chest. She was weeping, her body trembling.

“She’s here,” she cried, turning enough so I could see her. Rhys hadn’t been exaggerating when he said he fell in love the second he saw Azariah. This was… I didn’t have words for this.

“You did it,” I managed to say, wrapping my arms around them both. “She’s here…”

While Madja took her weight and length and cleaned her up, Elain’s sisters and I got her into bed. Cleaned her up and got her comfortable. I helped her into her blue robe, thin enough to be comfortable in the summer, but enough for her to keep covered.

“Pretty thing,” Madja said as she approached me. “It’s time for you to meet your father.”

I knew I’d been afraid earlier but this… this was beyond anything I’d ever felt. Madja placed the baby in my arms, making sure I had her correctly before going to check on Elain. The baby was awake, and I smiled. She looked so pissed off to be here. Her hair was raven black, she had grey eyes and when I went to touch her face… I almost recoiled when I saw my scarred hand… But the baby didn’t make a sound. She just stared at me.

“Hello, Nephelle,” I said softly and I gently caressed her cheek. I kissed her forehead. This had to be what heaven smelled like. Rhys came over to have a look, and for once, he didn’t tease me for crying.

“She’s beautiful,” Rhys whispered.

Cassian and our father arrived with Elain’s food just as I’d handed Nephelle over to Feyre. While everyone doted on the baby, I went to sit beside Elain. We managed to eat half our plate before Feyre walked towards us.

“I think someone is getting hungry.”

Nesta brought the nursing pillow over and Feyre showed Elain how to comfortably nurse the baby. It took a few tries, but Elain and Nephelle managed it.

“You’re perfect,” I said, making Elain blush. She leaned into me when I touched her face. I kissed her, and then I kissed the top of the baby’s head.

“Doesn’t she smell so good?” Elain asked.

“Too good,” I said with a laugh.

Once she was done, she handed her to me to burp her. My mother came to put the mano de azabache on the baby, giving her a quick blessing.

“She’s falling asleep,” Elain said with a laugh.

I held her against my chest, leaning back slightly on the back. I could stay like this forever. Elain curled up beside me, falling asleep within seconds. After Feyre took pictures, everyone started to head out. Madja dimmed down the lights, and then introduced me to the nurse who would be coming around during the rest of the night.

And then, it was just me, my wife and our daughter. That I could even say that brought tears to my eyes. I held them just a little closer to me and said silent thanks to whoever, whatever was out there that this was real. This was my life.

*

I closed the trunk to the SUV and walked back into the diner. Elain was putting Nephelle into the carseat when I went back upstairs. All that was left was the diaper bag.

“I gave Nuala the key just in case. Cas will probably stay here whenever he’s in town but…” Elain waved her hands. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Is that everything?” I asked as I grabbed the bag and the carseat. Nephelle was already asleep.

“Yeah… I think so.”

I made to walk but stopped.

“What’s wrong?”

Elain shook her head. I set the bag and car seat down and went over to her. There were tears in her eyes.

“It’s not forever,” I said.

“I know,” she said. “But… I’ve never been gone so long.”

“The diner will be fine.”

“I know.”

“And your sisters will be closer. My parents will probably try to move in.”

She laughed.

“And our bed is so big, Nephelle can just sleep with us.”

“Thank god,” she said. She hated putting her in the bassinet. I had to convince her to sleep when the baby slept. 

“And when she’s a little bigger, we’ll come stay here. I’ll stay home and you can go back to running the diner to your heart’s content.”

Elain laughed and wrapped her arms around me.

“Fine… Let’s go. But I want to grab some food first.”

“Of course.”

I waited for her to get the lunch Nuala had packed us before we went to the car. Elain sat in the back with Nephelle. We stopped at Lucien’s to say goodbye and they sent us off with food and clothes for the baby. And then we were really leaving, driving through town. People waved at us as I drove by and when I saw the town sign, I stopped the car.

“What’s wrong?” Elain asked. I shook my head. I didn’t know.

This godforsaken town, I had hated it my entire life and yet… My daughter, the only person I loved more than my wife, was born here. Just like my mother had. My brothers. My parents. This is where I met Elain and where I married her.

“It’s not forever,” Elain said and I could hear the smile in her voice.

“I know, it’s just…”

Elain unbuckled her seat belt and leaned over, pressing a kiss on my cheek.

“When Nephelle is bigger, we’ll get pretty flowers and take her to visit your mom. We’ll show her all the places that we love.” She kissed me. “Now you get to show us what it’s like to call Velaris home.”

“Home is wherever I’m with you.”

“Even Illyria?” she asked.

I kissed her.

“_Especially_ Illyria.”

-Fin-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> beti- hindi for daughter
> 
> El dia en que te conoci - the day that I met you
> 
> Eres el amor de mi vida, eres mi paz y mi luz. - You’re the love of my life, you’re my peace and my light. 
> 
> A veces pienso que esto es nada mas que un sueño pero es mi realidad - Sometimes I think this is just a dream but it’s my reality. 
> 
> Te amo, con todo mi corazon, todo mi ser - I love you, with all my heart, with all my soul
> 
> el lazo- it’s like a huge rosary put on like a “lasso” around the couple during the wedding ceremony. 
> 
> padrinos- the “patrons” of the wedding aka maid of honor and best man kind of thing. 
> 
> La Santa Cena- the holy supper/the last supper where you do the whole wine and bread thing to rep jesus body. 
> 
> marido y mujer- man and wife
> 
> Te vienen a quitarte la falda - they’re coming to take your lap. it’s a saying that means a new baby is coming to take your place lol like there’s nothing quite like planting the seeds of jealousy young lmao its always said in a teasing manner but I know some uncles and aunts who’ve said it completely maliciously 
> 
> mano de azabache - gold bracelet with a black hand charm to protect our babies from the evil eye


End file.
